The Citroën DS3 WRCs rack up another double

In Greece, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia scored their fifth

world championship victory after a thrilling duel with their teammates,

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. This result gave

Citroën its 22nd doublé in the World Rally Championship, an

outright record! Thanks to their 100th podium in the WRC, Loeb

and Elena have increased their lead in the Drivers’ World

Championship. The Citroën Total World Rally Team too has

widened the gap in the Manufacturers’ title chase.

After two long legs, the last day of the Acropolis Rally was like a final sprint with only 65 timed kilometers.

But the two passages through Aghii Theodori – a stage that has often decided the outcome of the event –

meant that the crews had to tackle it in a humble frame of mind. Sébastien Loeb, the overall leader with only

2.2s in hand over his nearest pursuer, and handicapped by the cleaning phenomenon, knew it would be

difficult for him to fight for victory. In the first passage through Aghii Theodori (SS14), Sébastien Ogier

overtook the seven-time world champion to lead by a tenth of a second. But Loeb fought back and retook first

place in New Pissia 1, also by a tenth!

“I’m in a situation in which I have to take risks to defend my position. I pushed even harder compared to the

first two days,” he admitted at the mid-leg halt. “Despite that it went off well and we managed a good

damage limitation exercise. As for winning, I don’t know yet. I’ll have to see how big the impact of cleaning is

second time through.”

“Seb was very quick and we didn’t make up much time on him. I thought that cleaning would play a more

important role this morning. Maybe I didn’t push hard enough. I’ll have to up the pace and take more risks

second time though,” added Ogier.

While Loeb stated that he had driven a perfect stage in Aghii Theodori 2, Ogier made the break and pulled

out 6.2s over his team-mate. He was back in the lead again and he put himself out of range of a possible

attack in New Pissia 2 increasing the gap to over 10 seconds. The 4-kilometer Power Stage changed nothing

and Ogier set the quickest time, 9/1000s in front of Loeb:

The Citroën drivers scored an additional 2 and 3 points each.

Ogier savoured his third victory of the season: “This perfect result, rewarded by twenty-eight points, is going

to do our championship hopes a lot of good! I’d really like to thank the whole team for two things. One, it

gave Seb and I the same chances to battle for victory, and I’m proud to have honoured their trust with a win.

Secondly, I have to underline the reliability of the DS3 WRC, which had a problem-free three days in a race

that was run at high speed.”

Despite his frustration at having been first out on the road for two days, Loeb also drew positive conclusions:

“Before the start I wasn’t gunning for outright victory above all else. I gave everything I had, but race

circumstances meant that I wasn’t able to fight on equal terms. I still think I was the quickest. The twenty

points I’ve scored will help me open up the gap over Mikko Hirvonen even further.”

“This double that we’ve racked up on our rivals’ favourite hunting ground is a fantastic result for Citroën,”

summed up Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal. “I’m very happy for our two drivers who

have both scored precious points in the world championship. With six victories in seven rallies, we can be very

proud of our first part of the season.”

All images: www.wrc.com / copyright McKlein