One month before the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship gets underway at Rallye Monte Carlo, Citroën Racing officially unveils its C3 WRC in Abu Dhabi. Complying with the new FIA regulations, which sees the introduction of a new generation of World Rally Cars, the C3 WRC heralds the return of Citroën, with eight manufacturers’ titles and no fewer than 96 wins to the brand’s name. For the 2017 season, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT will enter between two and four C3 WRCs for its crews; Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle, Craig Breen/Scott Martin, Stéphane Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau and Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi/Chris Patterson.
The 2017 season sees the introduction of a new generation of cars, designed to be the fastest and most spectacular ever seen on the stages of the World Championship.
In all areas, the Citroën C3 WRC has pushed back the boundaries of what has been done in the past. For example, the power-to-weight ratio of the Citroën Racing engineers’ latest creation is 3.1kg/bhp, compared with 3.8 for its predecessor. Since improved efficiency is not only a matter of figures, the dramatic technological changes can also be seen in the wider wings, the substantial aerodynamic features and the four-wheel drive that now comes with a centrally controlled differential.
Development work continued on a variety of surfaces, with around four to five days of testing each month, as the team looked for both reliability and performance. At the end of June, a key stage was reached with the delivery of a second car, dedicated to tarmac testing.
Behind the scenes, work in the design office continued, introducing new upgrades. Several wind tunnel sessions were also held, before the shape of the bodywork was finalised.
Confirmed as a works driver for Citroën Racing until 2018, Kris Meeke conducted the majority of the testing. In each session, his work was corroborated by Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre, who took over driving duties from the Northern Irishman on the final day of the tests.
Altogether, the Citroën C3 WRC completed ten test sessions and a total of 9,500 kilometres.
The final, critical stage before the car’s competitive debut, homologation by the FIA, was completed on 13 December 2016.
One month before the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship gets underway at Rallye Monte Carlo, Citroën Racing officially unveils its C3 WRC in Abu Dhabi. Complying with the new FIA regulations, which sees the introduction of a new generation of World Rally Cars, the C3 WRC heralds the return of Citroën, with eight manufacturers' titles and no fewer than 96 wins to the brand's name. For the 2017 season, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT will enter between two and four C3 WRCs for its crews; Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle, Craig Breen/Scott Martin, Stéphane Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau and Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi/Chris Patterson.
The 2017 season sees the introduction of a new generation of cars, designed to be the fastest and most spectacular ever seen on the stages of the World Championship.
In all areas, the Citroën C3 WRC has pushed back the boundaries of what has been done in the past. For example, the power-to-weight ratio of the Citroën Racing engineers' latest creation is 3.1kg/bhp, compared with 3.8 for its predecessor. Since improved efficiency is not only a matter of figures, the dramatic technological changes can also be seen in the wider wings, the substantial aerodynamic features and the four-wheel drive that now comes with a centrally controlled differential.
Development work continued on a variety of surfaces, with around four to five days of testing each month, as the team looked for both reliability and performance. At the end of June, a key stage was reached with the delivery of a second car, dedicated to tarmac testing.
Behind the scenes, work in the design office continued, introducing new upgrades. Several wind tunnel sessions were also held, before the shape of the bodywork was finalised.
Confirmed as a works driver for Citroën Racing until 2018, Kris Meeke conducted the majority of the testing. In each session, his work was corroborated by Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre, who took over driving duties from the Northern Irishman on the final day of the tests.
Altogether, the Citroën C3 WRC completed ten test sessions and a total of 9,500 kilometres.
The final, critical stage before the car's competitive debut, homologation by the FIA, was completed on 13 December 2016.
