'A BLACK DAY FOR THE REDS!'

Press release: Citroen Total WRT
Photo: Citroen Total WRT

The first leg of Rally Australia has been a disappointing one for the Citroën Total World Rally Team as both DS3 WRCs were forced to retire due to accidents. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena and then Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia were caught out by the muddy stages in the New South Wales forests. They will rejoin tomorrow with the aim of scoring points in the World Championship for Manufacturers.

As forecast, the rain fell on Coffs Harbour on Thursday evening just as the cars passed in front of the start podium. The event began with two passes in the super stage in the centre of the little costal town. Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb set the fastest times and took the lead in the event.

This morning, Friday, the crews set off for the dense forests of New South Wales for the opening stages on gravel. The day began with Shipmans, a real 30-km challenge! Loeb set the fastest time at an average speed of 114 km/h to take the lead in the rally.

But in the next stage the 7-time world champion crashed: “It happened in the middle of the stage. I lost concentration for a second by glancing at the split time which had just appeared on Daniel’s screen. I didn’t interpret the note very well and I braked too late for the next corner. The car rolled four times and it was too badly damaged for us to restart immediately.”

Stage victory went to Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier, who was third quickest, took the lead: “The rain made the roads very slippery and the hard tyres imposed by the regs were completely ill-adapted to the conditions so it was easy to get caught out. I tried to get to grips with the roads without taking major risks. »

Ogier’s rally ended in similar conditions to those of his team-mate. In SS6 the Citroën Total World Rally Team driver also was caught out on a thick layer of mud: “We skidded on a portion where there was absolutely no grip. We hit a bank and our race ended against a tree. As the radiator was holed we had to stop so as not to damage the engine.”

Laying aside their personal interests, the Citroën Total World Rally Team crews drove a team race and finished Rally Australia in tenth and eleventh places in the overall classification. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena’s and Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia’s performance helped their team to keep a good lead in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Sébastien Loeb scored four points and still holds first place in the drivers’ ratings with three events to go till the end of the season.

The final leg of Rally Australia of around 100 kms began in warm sunlight. It included two passes through the long Rally Plum Pudding stage. The quick, narrow route lined with big tress in the forests north east of Coffs Harbour provided a new challenge for the drivers.

Like the previous day, Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb did not take any risks as their main aim was to finish and score the maximum number of points in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Nonetheless, Loeb found his marks in the Clarence stage and set the quickest time in the sector used at the end of the rally for the Power Stage.

At the end of the first loop, Ogier was in tenth place overall with his team-mate twelfth. After a 30-minute halt in the Coffs Harbour service park, the crews restarted to cover the same 3-stage loop.

Taking into account the perfect score by their rivals in the context of the two world championships and in order to maximize the chances of their best-placed driver in the Drivers’ World Championship, Citroën asked Sébastien Ogier to cede his position to Sébastien Loeb in the second-last stage. This decision had little bearing on the Manufacturers’ World Championship placing as the two Citroën Total World Rally Team crews scored the points for sixth and seventh positions.

Rally Australia finished with the Power Stage in which the first three are awarded bonus points. Loeb achieved his aim and set the fasted time adding three points to his tally. Thanks to the four he scored this weekend he still has a 15-point lead over Mikko Hirvonen before Rally France: “After our off on Friday we had to do everything to lose as few points as possible. In addition to finishing the rally to score points in the manufacturers’ title chase, I set myself a personal aim of winning the Power Stage,” said Seb. “Again I’d like to thank the technical team which enabled us to rejoin the race with a competitive DS3 WRC, which was the same case for my team-mate. We’ve managed to limit the damage and our aim is to get back on the winning trail in Alsace!”

In the Manufacturers’ World Championship the Citroën Total World Rally Team has a comfortable lead of 62 points.

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