What are Citroen playing at?

We’re in the middle of a recession and motorsport has supposedly been hit hard.

Budgets have been capped and drivers, teams and events are struggling to find sponsorship, so why is Citroen continuing to develop the C4 WRC HYbrid4?

So Citroen want a Hybrid World Rally Car under their flashy gazebo do they? Very impressive but wake up guys, it's not going to happen.

The car, which had it’s first competitive test following Rally Portugal, is a partially-electric version of the WRC C4.

Apparently Citroen Racing had a desire to build a competitive yet innovative car and they’ve certainly done that.

The car has an Internal Combustion mode, behaving exactly like one of Citroen’s regular petrol C4 WRCs. An Electric Mode can also be used on road sections and in service parks to quieten the car down. Finally there is a Boost Mode which uses both the petrol engine and an electric motor to give an extra 300 Nm of torque.

Yeah, that’s all well and good, I’m very impressed with all your hard work Citroen, give yourselves a pat on the back.

It’s only a concept car at the moment but Citroen have said they are preparing for the likelihood of environmentally-friendly technologies being mandated in the World Rally Championship in the future.

Right, so if in the future the use of hybrid technology ever becomes legal Citroen will be able to react straight away.

That’s great guys, preparing for the future shows fantastic organisational skills but I just don’t understand where you’re coming from.

Last month rallying had bit of bad news…Max Mosley announced Super2000 cars would replace the World Rally Car format in the WRC from 2011.

Did Citroen not get that memo?

I love the idea of the electric mode – as well as being almost silent on non-competitive roads it’s environmently friendly so it will hush the critics.

Sure it has potential to be great but I just don’t see the point of developing a clever World Rally Car when there’s no chance of it ever seeing the light of day. Surely Citroen should be concentrating on building a brand-spanking new Super2000 car if they want to continue their dominance in rallying.

In my eyes it’s just showing off, plain and simple.

Weekly round-up 6th March to 12th March

• The Race of Champions organisers have dropped Wembley Stadium as the venue of the end of season all-star event. Organisers have apparently got five different proposals to choose from and will announce their decision in the next few weeks.
• Dani Sordo has been testing Citroen’s C4 WRC HYbrid4 in Portugal this week. It was the first time the car has had a proper asphalt test on competitive roads. The car features different modes; an Internal Combustion mode, where the car behaves exactly like one of Citroen’s regular petrol C4 WRCs, Electric mode which is used on road sections and in service parks, by engaging a 125kW electric motor the wheel wheels are only given drive to quieten the car down. Finally there is a Boost mode which uses both the petrol engine and the electric motor to give an extra 300 Nm of torque.

Sounds like a dream rally car but in today’s world of WRC the likelihood of these cars ever running competitively is next to none if Max Mosley and his ‘brilliant’ money saving ideas are anything to go by.

• According to Eurosport Petter has been testing a Grande Punto S2000 this week. Apparently Petter took part in the Abarth team test “with a view to participating in a few international rallies”. Eurosport seem to think that the “international rallies” Abarth, who are active in the IRC, referred to in their press release might indicate a possible Petter Solberg participation in an IRC event this year. – I’ll believe it when I see it, maybe he’s just working through his options for next year.

The end is near….

If rumours are to be belived Max ‘the useless one’ Mosley is to get his way when new turbo-free techicnal regs are expected to be approved on March 17.

Oh dear. I know a lot of people are all for these new rules, they’re cheaper and supposed to be safer. If he wants to make things cheaper why can’t the wonderful Max turn his attention away from Formula One and give WRC a look in for once?  How much time has he actually spent working on this proposal? If he’s not out there promoting his beloved F1 he’s off doing, well, you know what.

WRC cars are supposed to be WRC cars not Super 2000. I mean have you actually listened a Super 2000 car?? Has he ever listened to a Super 2000? Obviously not. I’m just be being picky but nothing compares to the sound of a Ford spluttering and popping on a start line, it’s what makes them stand out, now they’ll just sound like any other car out there.

It’s one bad thing after another these days.

Weekly round-up 23rd Feb – 1st March

Not much has really been going on this week so there’s little to report.

• Munchi’s have finally confirmed its entry in this year’s championship. They’ll take part in eight events and Federico Villagra and Jorge Perez Companc will be the registered crew but could be joined by other drivers on a round by round basis.
• The FIA is expected to announce new plans for turbo-free technical regulations for future versions of WRC cars. Oh yes the end is near. The FIA has the final say on the spec of the next generation of WRC cars and it’s believed the Max Mosley and co are likely to give the go-ahead for the Super 2000 based vehicle on 17 March.

Weekly round-up 16th Feb to 22nd Feb

All the important news from last week in a slightly more condensed version.

• Petter Solberg could be stepping up to a Citroen C4 as early as Rally Portugal in April.

• According to Autosport two manufacturer team cars were tampered with on Rally Norway. Local drivers Henning Solberg and Mads Ostberg had their damper settings interferred with, Henning’s the night before Shakedown and Ostberg’s the night before the final leg of the rally – I’ve been to a Parc Ferme before and have been shooed away by a big, burly security guard. During the night there are at least two of these scary security staff on the gates, if this was sabotage then what were these guards doing at the time?

• Max Mosley headed off to Paris this week to chair a WRC marketing seminar to further the debate about the future of the WRC – yes, shock horror, he’s actually taking an interest in the WRC for once.

• The Ford boys jetted off on a six day test straight after a ‘disappointing’ Rally Norway. Both Jari-Matti and Mikko were testing in Sardinia in anticipation of Rally Cyprus, with two days testing on asphalt and four days on gravel Mikko said it was important the team get the right car set-up for driving on asphalt stages but with gravel tyres and suspension, a set-up never used before so it will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Current driver standings – courtesy of wrc.com

														Total
1.	S. LOEB	10	10											20
2.	M. HIRVONEN	6	8											14
3.	D. SORDO	8	4											12
4.	H. SOLBERG	5	5											10
5.	J-M LATVALA	0	6											6
6.	C. ATKINSON	4	-											4
7.	M. WILSON	2	2											4
8.	S. OGIER	3	0											3
9.	P. SOLBERG	-	3											3
10.	K. AL-QASSIMI	1	-											1
11.	U. AAVA	0	1