The men in charge of the two Citroen teams contesting this year’s world rally championship for manufacturers outline their aims for the season ahead...
Questions to Olivier Quesnel - Citroen Total team director:
What objectives have you set your team for 2009?
"After winning both titles last year, there is no way we could be targeting anything less than the same result, so we will be looking to win the two crowns again in 2009. Sebastien and Daniel will obviously be out to claim their sixth consecutive world title, and it would be nice to see Dani take his first World Championship win.
“The creation of the Citroen Junior Team will also enable us to bring on other talented drivers, beginning with Sebastien Ogier. I hope this team will be a valuable ally for the Citroen Total World Rally Team."
Do you think that this year's WRC will be as exciting as it has been in recent years?
"I think it will be even closer! As has been the case in previous years, Citroen and Ford will be battling for individual event wins and the two titles, and both teams are even stronger today. It will be interesting to see a driver like Chris Atkinson in a C4 WRC. We know the quality of the cars we supply to our customers and I am convinced they will soon emerge as potential winners."
You were appointed director of Citroen Sport exactly a year ago. How do you envisage your second year in the job?
"Citroen Sport mirrors Citroen's renewal on both the creativity and technology fronts. We are consequently a showcase for the brand, in perfect keeping with its range and philosophy. We will be active on numerous fronts in 2009. In addition to our WRC programmes, we will be looking to the future, too, notably through the reinforcement of our customer-competition operations. This will include the launch of several national and international trophies, as well as increased involvement from our international subsidiaries. We will also start looking at the introduction of new products to round off our range which begins with the C2-R2 MAX."
Questions to Benoit Nogier - Citroen Junior Team manager:
What is the thinking behind the Citroen Junior Team?
“It’s a natural continuation of the programme that we put in place last year. Our aim was to enter a genuine manufacturer team. This project led to the birth of the Citroen Junior Team. It’s an opportunity to maximise our growing profile, even though we are very aware that we have different objectives to the factory team. The Citroen Junior Team is a programme with which to develop drivers. Thanks to this structure, we hope to find some future drivers for Citroen.”
How will the team operate throughout the course of the season?
“The exact programmes are still being finalised. We have entered the Citroen Junior Team onto all 12 rounds of the 2009 calendar with a minimum of two cars per event, which allows us to score points towards the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers on each round. Conrad Rautenbach will be present on all 12 rallies. Evgeny Novikov will start his eight-round programme on the Rally Norway.
“Sebastien Ogier will take part in the first six rallies, but he has a real opportunity to bulk out his programme as the season goes on. As for Chris Atkinson, he will drive one of our Citroen C4 WRCs in Ireland. As we already made clear when we signed the deal there are no plans currently in place beyond then, even though there’s a strong will to do so from both sides.”
We would like to prove that we can be competitive compared to the opposition. The average age of our four drivers - Chris Atkinson, Conrad Rautenbach, Sebastien Ogier and Evgeny Novikov - is just 22. They will all certainly want to demonstrate their outright speed, but the team’s objective is for them to acquire as much World Rally Championship experience as possible and get to the finish of each event. That’s our priority.”
Source:
http://www.wrc.com