Citroën Xsara WRC

The Citroën Xsara WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën Xsara road car. The car was introduced for the 2001 World Rally Championship season and has taken first three of nine drivers' titles for Sébastien Loeb, as well as the manufacturers' title in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Citroën Xsara WRC
CategoryWorld Rally Car
ConstructorCitroën Racing
PredecessorCitroën Xsara Kit Car
SuccessorCitroën C4 WRC
Technical specifications[1]
Length4,167 mm (164.1 in)
Width1,770 mm (69.7 in)
Height1,390 mm (54.7 in)
Axle track1,568 mm (61.7 in)
Wheelbase2,555 mm (100.6 in)
Engine1,998 cc (121.9 cu in) I4 turbo charge
Front transverse
TransmissionSix-speed sequential
4-wheel drive
Weight1,230 kg (2,711.7 lb)
Tyres
Competition history (WRC)
Notable entrants
Notable drivers
DebutSpain 2001 Rally Catalunya
First winFrance 2001 Tour de Corse
Last winCyprus 2006 Cyprus Rally
Last eventFrance 2010 Rallye de France
RacesWinsPodiumsTitles
5832786
Constructors' Championships3 (2003, 2004, 2005)
Drivers' Championships3 (2004, 2005, 2006)

Competition history

World Rally Championship

Jesús Puras with a Citroën Xsara Kit Car
Citroen Xsara WRC

The Xsara World Rally Car, based on the road going Xsara hatchback but ultimately having very little resemblance to it under the skin, was one of the most successful cars ever to compete in the World Rally Championship. In 1999, the WRCs predecessor, the two wheel drive naturally aspirated Xsara Kit Car, won overall in Rallye Catalunya and Tour de Corse.

This car was considered the best car in the class. The late Philippe Bugalski placed seventh overall and won the Kit Car F2 class.

In 2001, Kit Cars category disappeared and was replaced by Super 1600 and Super 2000. Citroën Xsara competed in the category of World Rally Car.[2] In 2002, French driver Sébastien Loeb was supposed to win the Monte Carlo Rally but he was penalized for an illegal tyre change, but he later won the Deutschland Rally.

In 2003, the Citroën Xsara was more competitive. In Wales GB, the leader Richard Burns suffered a blackout and withdrew from the rally. Sébastien Loeb made some mistakes on the last round and he lost the championship by just one point. However, the Citroën won the manufacturers' title. In 2004, Sébastien Loeb won the championship.[3]

Sébastien Loeb won 28 rallies with the car, three consecutive Driver's Championship titles from 2004 to 2006, and Citroën to three consecutive Manufacturer's Championship titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005.[4] In addition to Leob piloting the Xsara WRC, Jesús Puras, Carlos Sainz, and François Duval have also driven it to win since its 2001 conception.[3]

The car was replaced in 2007 by the Citroën C4 WRC, however the Xsara was still used by privateers and others. World champion of 2003, Petter Solberg drove a 2006 spec Xsara for the majority of the season of 2009, which was entered by his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team.[5]

Rallycross

Kenneth Hansen won the FIA European Rallycross Championship every year from 2000 to 2005.[6]

In September 2014, French based Lebanese businessman Nabil Karam entered the 2014 World RX of France with an Xsara, finishing 34th out of 37 entrants after the qualifying heats, and failing to qualify for the semi-finals. Having upgraded to a DS3 for the edition of 2015, this is the only time an Xsara has been used in a FIA World Rallycross Championship event.

WRC victories

 #  Event Season Driver Co-driver
1 France 2001 Tour de Corse 2001 Spain Jesús Puras Spain Marc Martí
2 Germany 2002 Rallye Deutschland 2002 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
3 Monaco 2003 Monte Carlo Rally 2003 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
4 Turkey 2003 Rally of Turkey 2003 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Marc Martí
5 Germany 2003 Rallye Deutschland 2003 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
6 Italy 2003 Rallye Sanremo 2003 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
7 Monaco 2004 Monte Carlo Rally 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
8 Sweden 2004 Swedish Rally 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
9 Cyprus 2004 Cyprus Rally 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
10 Turkey 2004 Rally of Turkey 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
11 Argentina 2004 Rally Argentina 2004 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Marc Martí
12 Germany 2004 Rallye Deutschland 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
13 Australia 2004 Rally Australia 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
14 Monaco 2005 Monte Carlo Rally 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
15 New Zealand 2005 Rally New Zealand 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
16 Italy 2005 Rally d'Italia Sardegna 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
17 Cyprus 2005 Cyprus Rally 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
18 Turkey 2005 Rally of Turkey 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
19 Greece 2005 Acropolis Rally 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
20 Argentina 2005 Rally Argentina 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
21 Germany 2005 Rallye Deutschland 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
22 France 2005 Tour de Corse 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
23 Spain 2005 Rally Catalunya 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
24 Australia 2005 Rally Australia 2005 Belgium François Duval Belgium Sven Smeets
25 Mexico 2006 Rally Mexico 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
26 Spain 2006 Rally Catalunya 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
27 France 2006 Tour de Corse 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
28 Argentina 2006 Rally Argentina 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
29 Italy 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
30 Germany 2006 Rallye Deutschland 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
31 Japan 2006 Rally Japan 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
32 Cyprus 2006 Cyprus Rally 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena

WRC results

Year Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points WMC Points
Citroën World Rally Team
2001 France Philippe Bugalski MON SWE POR ESP
8
ARG CYP GRC
6
KEN FIN NZL ITA
Ret
FRA
Ret
AUS GBR 22nd 1
Spain Jesús Puras MON SWE POR ESP
Ret
ARG CYP ITA
Ret
FRA
1
AUS GBR 11th 10
Sweden Thomas Rådström GRC
Ret
KEN FIN NZL 15th 6
France Sébastien Loeb MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP GRC KEN FIN NZL ITA
2
FRA AUS GBR 14th 6
2002 Sweden Thomas Rådström MON
Ret
SWE
37
FRA ESP
Ret
CYP ARG GRE
8
KEN
3
FIN
Ret
NZL AUS GBR
Ret
12th 4
Spain Jesús Puras GER
Ret
ITA
6
19th 1
France Sébastien Loeb MON
2
SWE
17
FRA ESP
Ret
CYP ARG GRE
7
KEN
5
FIN
10
GER
1
ITA NZL AUS
7
GBR
Ret
10th 18
France Philippe Bugalski MON
Ret
SWE FRA
4
ESP
3
CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN GER
Ret
ITA
Ret
NZL AUS GBR 11th 7
Spain Jesús Puras MON SWE FRA ESP
12
CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN NZL AUS GBR 19th 1
2003 United Kingdom Colin McRae MON
2
SWE
5
TUR
4
NZL
Ret
ARG
Ret
GRC
8
CYP
4
GER
4
FIN
Ret
AUS
4
ITA
6
FRA
5
ESP
9
GBR
4
7th 45 1st 160
France Sébastien Loeb MON
1
SWE
7
TUR
Ret
NZL
4
ARG
Ret
GRE
Ret
CYP
3
GER
1
FIN
5
AUS
2
ITA
1
FRA
13
ESP
2
GBR
2
2nd 71
Spain Carlos Sainz MON
3
SWE
9
TUR
1
NZL
12
ARG
2
GRC
2
CYP
5
GER
6
FIN
4
AUS
5
ITA
4
FRA
2
ESP
7
GBR
Ret
3rd 63
France Philippe Bugalski MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER
Ret
FIN AUS ITA
8
FRA
9
ESP
10
GBR 23rd 1
2004 France Sébastien Loeb MON
1
SWE
1
MEX
Ret
NZL
4
CYP
1
GRE
2
TUR
1
ARG
2
FIN
4
GER
1
JPN
2
GBR
2
ITA
2
FRA
2
ESP
Ret
AUS
1
1st 118 1st 194
Spain Carlos Sainz MON
Ret
SWE
5
MEX
3
NZL
6
CYP
3
GRC
19
TUR
4
ARG
1
FIN
3
GER
3
JPN
5
GBR
4
ITA
3
FRA
3
ESP
3
AUS
WD
4th 73
2005 France Sébastien Loeb MON
1
SWE
Ret
MEX
4
NZL
1
ITA
1
CYP
1
TUR
1
GRE
1
ARG
1
FIN
2
GER
1
GBR
3
JPN
2
FRA
1
ESP
1
AUS
Ret
1st 127 1st 188
Belgium François Duval MON
Ret
SWE
12
MEX
Ret
NZL
4
ITA
11
CYP
Ret
ARG
7
FIN
8
GER
2
GBR
2
JPN
4
FRA
Ret
ESP
2
AUS
1
6th 47
Spain Carlos Sainz TUR
4
GRC
3
13th 11
Kronos Citroën World Rally Team
2006 France Sébastien Loeb MON
2
SWE
2
MEX
1
ESP
1
FRA
1
ARG
1
ITA
1
GRE
2
DEU
1
FIN
2
JPN
1
CYP
1
1st 112 2nd 166
United Kingdom Colin McRae TUR
Ret
0
Spain Xavier Pons MON
9
SWE
7
MEX
Ret
ESP
Ret
FRA
6
ARG
17
ITA
4
GRE
8
DEU
14
FIN
Ret
JPN
DNS
CYP
7
TUR
4
AUS
4
NZL
4
GBR
5
7th 32
Spain Dani Sordo MON
8
SWE
16
MEX
4
ESP
2
FRA
3
ARG
5
ITA
3
GRE
6
DEU
2
FIN
Ret
JPN
DSQ
CYP
Ret
TUR
7
AUS
23
NZL
5
GBR
7
5th 49
Petter Solberg World Rally Team
2009 Norway Petter Solberg IRL NOR
6
CYP
3
POR
4
ARG
Ret
ITA
3
GRC
Ret
POL
4
FIN
Ret
AUS ESP GBR 5th 35
2010 France Yvan Muller SWE MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN GER JPN FRA
42
ESP GBR 0

References

  1. "Xsara WRC". juwra.com. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  2. "WRC, motorsport news, results, features, teams, drivers, updates". Crash.net. 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 July 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  3. "Peugeot 306 Maxi Rallye car Citroen ZX Xsara WRC Race". marxxon.com. June 5, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  4. "Kronos - Season 2006". Juwra.com. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  5. "World Rally Championship – Rallies". Wrc.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  6. "KENNETH HANSEN APPOINTED - FIA'S DRIVER COMMISSION". Retrieved 26 September 2013.
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