Breen sweats as Citroën break the bank to land Ogier and Lappi
CHANGES are afoot at Citroën and that must be a worry for Craig Breen as he prepares to start Wales Rally GB tonight.
Kris Meeke has already been shown the door and five-time World Champion Sebastien Ogier is on his way back as the French team seek to drag themselves out of the malaise that has engulfed them in recent seasons.
Esapekka Lappi is said to have already agreed a deal which will see him partner Ogier next year.
So where does that leave Breen and Mads Ostberg, the driver who was drafted in when Meeke was sacked in May after what Citroën deemed to be one crash too many?
Budgetary constraints saw the team restricted to just two cars on most rounds of this year’s championship in which neither Breen nor Ostberg looked capable of emulating Meeke and returning Citroën to the winners’ circle.
Which is why they have blown the budget to attract Ogier and Lappi. Significantly, perhaps, Ogier has explained his decision to return after seven years because he has says he has seen a change of attitude within Citroën.
“They come out of a difficult period in rallying and I felt this year, more than the previous years, a desire to really give myself the means to find the level which was that of Citroën a few years ago: to do things well or not to do them at all,” he said.
“We had the impression that they were doing things by half.”
His words go some way to validate the belief Meeke was not being given the support he needed to tame the notoriously difficult Citroën C3 WRC and was driving beyond the limit of the car. He is the only driver to have recorded a win in the new specification C3 but at the cost of a string of accidents.
The Ulsterman has steadfastly refused to talk about his sacking or comment on stories linking him to a move to Toyota, but a couple of teasing posts have appeared on his Instagram account recently, heightening speculation.
Where all of this leaves Breen’s Citroën future is far from clear, especially as his current contract runs out at the end of the season.