WRC

Rallye Deutschland: Citroen leg one summary

"The Xsara is back !" Of course the road is still very long until the finish. And of course tomorrow's leg in the military camp of Baumholder is expected to be tricky, especially considering the weather forecasts. But tonight the CitroÃ«n team ...

Published: Aug 30, 2002, 8:44 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

"The Xsara is back !"

Of course the road is still very long until the finish. And of course tomorrow's leg in the military camp of Baumholder is expected to be tricky, especially considering the weather forecasts.

But tonight the Citroën team is smiling : The Xsara is back in business with the qualities which delighted its drivers during the last tarmac events in 2001 : fast, efficient, and reliable.

The Citroën drivers set the pace in the first loop of three stages amongst the vineyards of the Mosel's hills. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena came third in the first stage despite the engine stalling in a hairpin. Then, came a fastest time followed by five more ... Extremely satisfied with the Xsara's behaviour, the young Citroën driver dominated its prestigious rivals, surprising again the rally audience by its versatility and its serenity. "I was expecting a tough fight and I gave a full attack straight away. Except in SS6 and 8, where we did not take any risks, I drove almost 100%. For the while, everything is fine, I can only hope for a same day tomorrow..."

In car number 22, Philippe Bugalski and Jean-Paul Chiaroni shared the team's joy. At the first service in the Messepark of Trier, the Corsican co-driver was radiant with happiness : "Philippe drove cautiously in the first stage as usual. Even more cautiously after five months away from the competition. In SS2 and 3, we experienced some brake problems but we both know we possess the weapon to fight with the front-runners !"

Once the brake problems were solved, Philippe and Jean-Paul adopted the same pace as their young team-mates. The Xsaras also delivered a "one-two" stage time (SS5) before heading back to Trier in first and third positions.

This promising start naturally pleased Guy Fréquelin, even if the "Reds" boss deplored the retirement of the third Xsara, driven by "Chus" Puras and Marc Marti.

"The fact they retired due an electrical failure makes us think that we should not be delighted too fast. However, I am very satisfied : we identified and solved the problem we encountered in Catalunya. Sébastien and Philippe are clearly demonstrating how we've improved. "

Total, Michelin, Magneti-Marelli, OZ, AIS and Citroën Financement are Citroën's partners in the World Rally Championship.

-citroen-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Rallye Deutschland: Ford leg one summary

Next article Rallye Deutschland: Mitsubishi leg one summary

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Mercedes out of performance window at Mexico GP - George Russell

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

49 min

Mercedes out of performance window at Mexico GP - George Russell

Haas drops Esteban Ocon for F1 Mexico GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

Haas drops Esteban Ocon for F1 Mexico GP

Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

2 h

Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday

Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Malaysian GP

3 h

Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders

Feature

Discover prime content

A story of persistence as Elfyn Evans' long wait for WRC glory finally ends

WRC

Rally Italy

By Tom Howard

A story of persistence as Elfyn Evans' long wait for WRC glory finally ends

How Elfyn Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

WRC

Rally Italy

By Tom Howard

How Elfyn Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

What a revival of the World Rally Championship could look like

WRC

By Tom Howard

What a revival of the World Rally Championship could look like

How Oliver Solberg lit up WRC title fight in Chile

WRC

Rally Chile

By Tom Howard

How Oliver Solberg lit up WRC title fight in Chile

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts