The Xsara T4 Rally and it’s drivers have led Citroen to great sucess. Sebastien Loeb, who lost the 2002 Monte Carlo to techinicalities, took the 2003 and 2004 editions of this race, driving the T4. Alongside Loeb, Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz havesince joined the every successful Citroen team. A new Citroen car, the C4, is set for homologation sometime in March 2004.

Monte Carlo Rally. Leg 3: Sunday January 25th, 2004

Sebastien Loeb, his Monaco born team-mate Daniel Elena took, the Xsara WRC and the whole Citroen team claimed a clear win in the Monaco harbour area today. With this success, following on from that obtained in the first round of the 2003 season, and the superb performance in 2002, the Double Chevron brand has definitely written its name in the history books of this, the most prestigious rally in the World Championship.

For the oldest rally of the World Championship, the first of the sixteen-round 2004 calendar, Citroen-Total entered two Xsara WRCs for its nominated crews Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti. A glance at the statistics reveals that the Frenchman and the Spaniard are in fact the only two drivers on the entry list who had already won this event.

Final Classification of the 72nd Monte Carlo Rally

1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 4 h 12 min 03 s 2. M. Martin/M.Park (Ford Focus) + 1 min 12.6 s 3. F. Duval/S. Prevot (Ford Focus) + 1 min 19.6 s 4. M. Gronholm/T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 307) + 1 min 26.8 s 5. F. Loix/S. Smeets (Peugeot 307) + 8 min 16.9 s 6. G. Panizzi/H. Panizzi (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 10 min 11.6 s 7. P. Solberg/Ph. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 10 min 42.2 s 8. O. Burri/J-Ph. Patthey (Subaru Impreza) + 17 min 49.1 s 9. J. Beres/P. Stary (Hyundai Accent) + 19 min 43.1 s 10. N. Bernardi/D. Giraudet (Renault Clio) + 23 min 38.1 s

Citroen, World Champion 2003!

Success! Thanks to the superb second place secured by Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and the solid fourth position of Colin McRae/Derek Ringer at the Wales Rally GB, Citroen has claimed the overall title in its first full season in the World Championship. The Xsara WRC is the World Championship-winning car.

The manufacturer with the Double Chevron emblem was therefore able to bring to a successful end the nine-month marathon, which started with a magnificent one-two-three in the Monte-Carlo Rally. A campaign which included four wins, seven second places and two third places, a tally which exceeded the targets set at the start of the season.

2003 Manufacturers’ Championship

1. Citroen, 160 points 2. Peugeot, 145 points 3. Subaru, 109 points 4. Ford, 93 points 5. Skoda, 23 points 6. Hyundai, 12 points

Story by Citroen