Astonishing as it may seem, the entry of runaway World Rally Championship leaders Citroen into the 2013 season had looked in doubt as late as last week, with poor sales figures from the company’s road division putting a question mark on its rally budget.
Think about it. The idea that the team which has won all but two of the last nine WRC Constructor’s Championships and every WRC Driver’s Championship since 2004 with Sebastian Loeb would not return for 2013 (albeit understandable) is untenable, right? And so a period of domination by one manufacturer the likes of which the WRC has never seen before would have staggered to a halt, and no doubt raised a surreptitious smile the length and breadth of the special stage service areas.
That smile may have to wait though. Citroen has now secured its WRC future by signing a five-year partnership with Abu Dhabi Racing, a newly established company is working to bolster the emirate’s presence in global motorsport. The newly rebranded Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team will turn its first wheel in anger at the 81st Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo on 15-20 January 2013.
Joining confirmed Citroen drivers Loeb (who will complete a partial campaign in 2013) and Mikko Hirvonen is ADR Chairman Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, who will run the full WRC campaign. This marks the first time Sheikh Khalid will have competed on the world stages since his four-year stint with Ford from 2007-2011.
