C4 WRC Success Will Put Pressure on Citroen's DS3 WRC

Next year will witness a major technological and engineering reshuffle in the world of rallying, as the World Rally Championship will welcome the new 1.6 turbocharged units inside brand new cars. Needless to say, championship big guns Citroen and Ford have prepared intensively for the new challenge, developing brand new cars to go with the new turbo engine.

If this transition means a new reason to hope for Ford, things are a bit different in Citroen's case. And that's because the end of the C4 WRC will coincide with the termination of a winning era for the French manufacturer. During the 4 seasons it has been taken to rallying by 7-time world champion Sebastien Loeb, the car scored no less than 36 rally wins and grabbed 3 manufacturers' titles.

Further statistics show that the C4 WRC is the 4th winningest rally car of all time, trailing only the mighty Lancia Delta, Subaru Impreza and Ford Focus (which it dominated through the period of time the two cars were competing head-to-head in the WRC).

Considering all that, Citroen's transition from the C4 WRC to the DS3 WRC will be risky business for the French company, as the latter will face plenty of pressure from its predecessor's heritage.

“Everybody knows that normally [this success] has to stop,” warned Citroen's team manager Sven Smeets, hinting that people should not expect the DS3 to show the same signs of dominance as its bigger brother.

“Everybody has ups and downs, but we have had a lot of ups with the Xsara and the C4, now we have to work hard to continue that with the new car. Certainly, though, there is going to be a big pressure on everybody between now and the opening round in Sweden,” he added.