No Summer Holiday For Citroën!

While the rest of the World Rally Championship takes a two month summer holiday before the next round in August, there will be no break for Citroën with Sébastien Loeb and his Citroën C4 WRC heading for Ireland to compete in the 36th Donegal Rally this weekend (15-18 June 2007).

The decision to take part in the Irish Tarmac Championship is driven by the fact that Ireland joins the World Rally Championship in November with Rally Ireland and with everyone in the team too young to have driven in the Circuit of Ireland, the classic motorsport event that started in 1931 and which enticed many top drivers to test themselves on the unique Irish conditions, both drivers and the team need to understand what its like to compete in Ireland.

"The Irish stages are very specific and we wanted to get a feel for what we can expect when we return in November," says Citroën Sport boss Guy Fréquelin. "Entering Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in a C4 WRC is the best way of evaluating the special challenges involved. Although the Donegal Rally's route is only some 100km from the heart of Rally Ireland's action, it doesn't share any stages with the WRC qualifier which is based further to the south. Even so, the bumpy, narrow profile of the stages and the type of asphalt will give us some useful pointers to help optimise our preparations for the championship's penultimate round. Depending on where we stand at the time in the Drivers' and Manufacturers' standings, it might be important to score a top result and our trip to Donegal is intended to give us every chance of doing that."

Citroën Sport's Technical Manager Xavier Mestelan-Pinon shares Guy Fréquelin's view.

"It will be interesting to see how the Citroën C4 performs on what are reported to be extremely fast but not very wide stages. Although the Donegal Rally is by no means a carbon copy of Rally Ireland, there will still be some useful information to pick up on the technical front."

Sébastien Loeb, meanwhile, is one hundred percent behind the project.

"Citroën Sport's idea to enter us for this event with the C4 WRC is excellent," commented
the reigning World Champion. "It will be important to compete on it to gain experience with the car on this type of terrain which is quite unique. Despite Citroën's experience of asphalt competition, it seems that the Irish roads have characteristics that we have never previously come across anywhere else. Contesting the Donegal Rally will enable us to obtain a more accurate picture of what awaits us and perhaps even determine a specific set-up."

The fifth round of the 2007 Irish Championship is based in the Donegal region in the north of the island. The event's principal facilities will be based in Letterkenny and the format features three legs divided into 22 special stages in the Glenveach National Park.

ENDS

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