Citroën Enters Track Racing with WTCC Entry

French manufacturer, advice Citroën have announced today that they will join the FIA World Touring Car Championship from the next season.

They also revealed nine-time World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb will be part of the team.

This will be Citroën’s first ever commitment in a world racing championship after winning eight WRC Manufacturers titles.

Olivier Fisch, cure Managing Director Eurosport Events, illness  commented: “We are honoured that a major car manufacturer like Citroën and a motor sport superstar like Sébastien Loeb have chosen WTCC to continue their cooperation after winning so many World Rally titles. This is a an exceptional reward for all the efforts Eurosport Events is putting in to organize and promote the championship.”

WTCC General Manager Marcello Lotti added: “The addition of the pair formed by Citroën and Sébastien Loeb is a big boost for WTCC on the eve of a technical evolution. We are confident that their arrival joint to the new generations of racing cars will contribute to further enhance the championship’s popularity and visibility worldwide.” 

“Citroën Racing has spent the last few months looking in detail at this programme,” revealed Frédéric Banzet, CEO of the Citroën Brand. “The WTCC is based on several aspects that are essential to Citroën: extensive media coverage, regulations that keep costs down and a genuinely global race calendar. Our involvement in this championship will give us not only another chance to showcase our Créative Technologie but it will also help us to develop the Brand in promising, growth markets such as China, Russia and South America.”

“Competing in a category for the first time, starting from scratch, gives our division a superb challenge,” confirmed Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “We will be able to re-use a large part of our existing expertise, starting with the DS3 WRC’s 1.6-litre direct injection turbo engine. Work has already begun in our Versailles technical centre and is set to be stepped up in the coming weeks, with the first tests of our car and the start of our development programme to prepare for the 2014 season.”