Because they couldn't get Neuville..
Only other possible choice in order to fight for a title would be Tanak, but maybe they didn't quite have enough confidence in him?
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Could Citroen not build up points and still fight for the title regardless of winning drivers. See Hyundai and VW this year.
Worse silly season from years.
Monte Carlo: Meeke, Lefebvre (Breen in the 2016 car)
Sweden: Meeke, Breen (Lefebvre in the 2016 car)
Mexico: Meeke, Breen or Lefebvre in second 2017 car, the other one in the 2016 car
France: Meeke, Breen or Lefebvre in second 2017 car, the other one also in the 2017 car otherwise in the 2016 car
Argentina: Meeke, Breen or Lefebvre in second 2017 car, the other one also in the 2017 car otherwise in the 2016 car
Portugal (and rest of the season): Meeke, Breen and Lefebvre all three in the 2017 car
Also i think Citroën will send at least Breen to rally Australia this year and maybe Lefebvre aswell but he drove this one already last year. And there is a option for both drivers to compete in the last rally in France (Du Var) as a extra test for rally Monte Carlo.
Note: S. Al Qassimi possible drives Mexico & Argentina (and to be confirmed other ones) with 2016 car, later on the season almost sure also in the 2017 car.
'At some rounds of the 2017 World Championship, a fourth Citroën C3 WRC will also be entered for Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and Chris Patterson.' http://www.citroenracing.com/en/2016...championships/
Great Citroen news, especially for Breen as he has really earned his chance with his 2016 drives.
Interesting that him and Lefebvre will still use the 2016 car to gain WRC event experience.
Agreed, in the middle of the season it seemed we may have some new line-ups with Tänak to Toyota/Hyundai, Neuville to Citroen and Suninen to Hyundai but in the end nothing happened. i think big part of it is that there will be new cars, nobody didnt want to wait until the end of the season to get the taste of the new car and team. Plus, you already know the current team and car but with the new team you would have started all over and too little time to prepare for next year.
Colin Clarke: 'Question for the rules gurus! Could @CitroenRacing put either Craig or Stephane in a 2016 car early next year and still score manu points?'