Citroen announced that it will enter the 76th Monte Carlo rally with two 2008 Citroen C4 WRC's driven by Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena, and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti. The two 2008 Citroen C4 WRC's will start in the 76th Monte Carlo rally on January 24.
Citroen Press Release:
Citroen ready for the 'off' on the road to Monte Carlo
A year after making its competition debut with a resounding one-two finish on the 2007 Monte Carlo Rally, the Citroen C4 WRC is poised to tackle the World Rally Championship's longest-standing event for the second time. For the first round of the
2008 season, Citroen Sport has entered two cars for four-time World Champions Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and their Spanish team-mates Dani Sordo/Marc Martí.
In the course of its long history, the Monte Carlo Rally has emerged as the world's most famous rally. Last year's event saw the return of legendary stages like Saint Jean en Royans, Burzet and Saint Bonnet le Froid, and this year's menu features the comeback of yet another classic: the Col du Turini. Should snow make an appearance, the setting will be ideal!
"I'm obviously dreaming of a white Monte Carlo, with real wintry conditions," says Sébastien Loeb. "The route focuses on three different regions, so the stages will be very varied. Thursday evening's tests are wide, fast and smooth. Those in the Ardèche are more technical, narrower and occasionally bumpy. Last year, the conditions were particularly dry but it should be fun if we get snow and ice this time round! I am delighted to see that the Col du Turini and some other classic stages in the southeast corner of France are back. That said, the challenge of having to contest the final day's four stages with the same tyres could well turn out to be quite delicate."
The stage conditions encountered on the Monte Carlo Rally have always been one of this fixture's main difficulties. The asphalt tests take place to a mountainous backdrop, with numerous high mountain passes to cross, and competitors constantly switch from shade to roads that are more exposed to sunshine. In the course of a single stage, it is consequently by no means rare to come across portions of clear asphalt and other parts that are covered in ice and/or snow, so tyres frequently play a decisive role.
"We will have the choice between three types of tyre," explains Citroën Sport's Technical Manager Xavier Mestelan-Pinon. "If the conditions are dry, the only option we will have will be the soft compound dry weather tyre. If it snows, our crews will be able to choose between studded and non-studded snow tyres, depending on the temperature and how much snow they expect to find. The Monte Carlo Rally promises to be a particularly tough rally because, like the other teams, we have no real hindsight following the work we have put in with our cars running on Pirelli tyres. As far as the evolutions to the C4 WRC are concerned, we will have a new engine – the 'EW' – for the Monte Carlo Rally, as well as some aerodynamic evolutions at the front."
"We will take a measured approach to the start of our 2008 WRC campaign," points out Citroën Sport's new
director, Olivier Quesnel. "The switch to a single tyre manufacturer will be the principal change for the first
round of the championship and, as always in such cases, we will need time to adapt. We have done as much
work as we can to amass as much data as possible concerning the tyres we will have for the Monte Carlo
Rally but we are aware that we still have a great deal to learn. The Monte Carlo Rally has always been a
challenging event, not only because of its stages but also because it is the first round of the season. It will
be especially difficult this year because of the tyre factor with which we will have to come to terms on the
event itself. The competition promises to be extremely fierce, too, but I have every confidence in our
technical staff who have worked hard to make the Citroën C4 WRC even more competitive. I also believe
that Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí form a very strong line-up and I know they will
be looking to start the year with a repeat of their exploit of last year. Our objective for 2008 is to win both
the Manufacturers' and Drivers' world titles, so a top result would obviously be a first class omen."
"As is often the case at the start of a new season, there are a lot of unknown factors," explains Sébastien.
"We will need to find the best match between the tyres we have and the stage conditions, but our aim is to
try to win and get the year off to a positive start." Should Seb and Daniel succeed in adding a fifth Monte
Carlo victory to their record, they will become the most successful crew in the winter classic's history.
"I'm very much looking forward to the start of the Monte Carlo Rally, although we will probably need time to
adapt to our new tyres," echoes Dani. "We have prepared thoroughly for this event but nothing can replace
actually being on the rally. The Monte's stages are fantastic but we will need to stay focused from start to
finish if we want to achieve our objective which is a top-three finish with a view to scoring as many points as
possible for Citroën."
