So what's the deal with this PH Sport car? Is anyone actually going to pay for It? When it got announced i was under the impression they'd have a car on every event near enough, or wanted that to be the plan.
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So what's the deal with this PH Sport car? Is anyone actually going to pay for It? When it got announced i was under the impression they'd have a car on every event near enough, or wanted that to be the plan.
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The deal was struck that very morning at the show.
A bit last minute...!
https://www.rallye-magazin.de/wrc/ar...t-bei-citroen/
An interview with Matton saying he's confident(ish) that they tackled the reliability issues that hampered the car last season.
He said also that they are ready for world title at the start of 2017. And that they have believe in youngsters (drop Lefebvre and reduce Breen's season for some old dude). And he said that Meeke's abandon would help him back in the saddle after Poland (well at least that was right, kinda after 2 events).
https://rallysportmag.com/interview-...ce-at-citroen/
Interview in English. Elena should be OK for Mexico and Østberg may have R5 starts
Mads has sold at least one of the Fiesta R5s in Adapta to Sweden, so I guess Mads will get a very good price on a C3 R5 or two.
Important to get as much training as possible in a car as close as possible to the WRCar he is to try to get podiums with.
This is of course also in the interest of PSA Sport.
Who will take Matton's place at Citroen now?
Pierre Budar was at Psa motorsport customer racing department.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
See autosport.com for more
New Citroen WRC boss must improve team spirit
https://www.motorsport-news.co.uk/ne...e-team-spirit/
“The budget for this year is closed,” he said, “we have to live with that and do as well as we can."
That doesn't sound promising to me.
That only means that they won't extend the budget, not that they don't have any. I reckon only Hyundai and Toyota would be capable of raising more money midseason.
Though I have to agree that Citroen not providing three cars on the majority of events is less than promising. They have virtually no chance of winning the manufacturer's.
It's open to interpretation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
The first 3/4 of the quote is totally right, the last part I really wonder how he got that.Quote:
“When you look at what Kris did when he won in Finland with the DS3 [in 2016] this was incredible, his speed was so robust and he has such a capacity for speed – we all know just how quick is Kris Meeke and we know it’s possible to win consistently with him.”
he mentions about the spirit inside the team. Seems there is a serious problem
That's only natural after such a disastrous season. The thing is that he won't be able to lift the team's spirit for long unless they show results on a more regular basis.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
We might actually end up in a situation where Serderidis will be nominated to score points! After all, it only takes two WRC cars to retire, and Serderidis to finish and he will be in a potential point scoring situation!
i don't think citroen has future with that kind of approach.I really can't understand why they have small budget.When a big company like citroen enter a world championship must spent some money that goes without saying.I dont think if they spent money wrc they will bunkrupt.i really can't understand their logic(if there is).
There was a pretty big problem, but things improved a lot mid way through last year and helped further with the introduction of Besse.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
Meeke didn't feel the support from a few members of the team and felt he wasn't listened to on a number of issues with the car/ what updates they needed to bring.
The penny started to drop when Mikkelsen severely severely struggled in Sardinia, and with Loeb + Mikkelsen both making it clear the car was very difficult to drive even reasonably quickly, in certain conditions. The man who penned and oversaw the designing of the C3 was moved aside, as well as a few other Citroen personnel being moved on. Arrogance and risk taking in the designing and engineering phase cost the team a lot and it took the team a while to realise and admit this (maybe somewhat understandable considering the success that has poured out of this team for 15+years).
There's still a lot of work to do though, and it's a disappointment they've got a smaller budget this year. Even more so when you factor in that they've got Sheikh Khalid's money pumped into the team. If it wasn't for him, I'd guess that Citroen wouldn't even be in the WRC this year.
However this 2018 season could go one of two ways imo; If Citroen can get the car to the drivers liking and improve it even further on all events/ surfaces, this year could be a springboard to get them back to having a full assault in both championships in 2019 (with an increased budget, a proper 3 car team and the addition of a top driver like Ogier). But if they can't find a way to get this car to be more driver friendly, and get Meeke and Breen consistently on the pace on most events, I fear this will be their last season in the WRC and they'll just withdraw.
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Already noting Breen's test... and I'm not talking about his off but there is one video he slides quiet WIDE at the rear and a similar video of the Toyota... JML controls the situation.. so perhaps Citroen still haven't gotten that Wild Tail issue fixed...
In saying that - I know conditions are different between the Toyota and Citroen Test ie Road, Ice, Snow etc.
I'm pretty sure the Ogier ship has sailed for good. There was this whole episode with Loeb and when they tried to get him last year they didn't put in a proper offer. He will retire with M-Sport the only question is when.
Citroen should have tied down Mikkelsen when they had the chance.
If they continue in 2019 they have to either grab Sordo or Paddon or go for a youngster like Tidemand.
Of course Meeke's and Breen's 2018 performances will make a difference. Will they improve or will they be even weaker than last year?Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
I was talking of third driver options. I think Meeke and Breen are more than decent drivers.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Anyway you put it, this very well could be Citroën's last year in the WRC, certainly hope not...
Apparently, PSA budget cuts were intensified after Opel/VX buy. For sure it's a bit shocking to see Citroen running in such a controlled way, but it’d be worse for the WRC if they had decided to pull out. For now we can just hope the C3 will be fixed and budget restrictions eased up for ’19, if they stick to the original 3 year commitment.Quote:
Originally Posted by nafpaktos
Btw, the rumour about Peugeot taking WRC program makes no sense. Finot (PSA Motorsport boss) made it clear: each group brand would have a single major program and Peugeot is investing in WRX, with 2020 EVs introduction in mind (the future 208 street car is also expected to be launched with an electric version).
Maybe after all Skoda will replace Citroen..
Škoda will likely come only in 2020 with Fabia IV based car.Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
It’s obvious Citroen is now cautious at giving away its future goals or expectations after a horrible 2017. I’m sure they would be more than happy with a few wins and a decent fight for manu points, but they know they had a tough year and they have no idea where they stand until after a few events. Everyone will have upped their game this year. It’s just as exciting as the beginning of 2017 if you ask me. So many unknowns before the start of th season. The addition of Loeb is another weird unknown for th team. Will he do well.. what if he crashes or what if the car can’t be competitive etc. I think there is a lot of pressure for the whole team.
I would hope as an addition, not as a replacement. We need more cars in the top class.Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
I suppose Skoda will replace VW (Polo WRC).Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
I would rather see that but hey I'm nobody and that's reality. Hyundai too will soon have enough if they can't be on the top..
Is it not just good business sense for manufacturers to alternate between brands? VAG switching from VW to Skoda, PSA switching from Citroen to Peugeot and its not out of the realms of possibility that Hyundai will do the same with Kia. After all the WRC is a promotional shop window. It doesn't really matter to me what the big manufacturers do with their brands as long as they don't leave WRC (or rallying) entirely.
Where is Renault or Nissan. They could easily step into the game.
Easily? When watching the last rally cars Renault Sport has built, I'd doubt they could make a competitive and reliable R5 car at this moment, not even talking about WRC...Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
They still have Alpina, don´t they? How is their indoor competence these days? (Talking about Renault that is.)
I think that if the money is right they could also produce decent machine. Easily can turn to guys like Prodrive, or some other experienced team in motorsport and they're on. Don't measure it by some R3 clios who competed only on Tour De Corse and Monte (I mean in WRC)... Skoda too had crap WRC cars and their R5 is piece of machine that everyone leaves in dust. And Citroen have long history with dominant force and what about now? They can't even know what's wrong with the car.
don't forget that renault also owns nissan and mitsubishi.
RMC Citroen video:
https://www.facebook.com/citroenraci...5262317127057/
“It’s a great racing team, I trust them a lot, I know they will rebound” - Carlos Tavares, PSA CEO.
Nice encouragement from the Boss!
Meeke pulls no punches...
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...e-to-win-monte
"It's boring to be clever, but it works sometimes - it's just taken me 30-odd years to work that one out."
*applause*
This might potentially have more impact on his championship hopes than any tweaks to C3.
The way Meeke has talked about his employer lately (not just in this interview), makes you think that he already knows this will be his last year in the team - if not the last year of the Citroen WRC team. Not saying he wouldn't be right in his statements, it's just quite rare these days to get as candid opinions, and usually they do mean that things are coming to an end.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC