CITROEN PRESSES AHEAD WITH TARMAC UPGRADE
French firm desperate to head up the order with Rally Spain revamp for C3 WRC
Citroen has revealed the most radical aerodynamic updates seen since the start of the new era of World Rally Cars in 2017.
The French team has been testing its C3 WRC in Spain ahead of next week’s Rally Spain, a crucial event in Ogier’s efforts to take his seventh straight championship and Citroen’s first world title since 2012.
Ogier’s biggest concern in Spain is the two days on asphalt. The C3 was comprehensively outclassed on the previous two Tarmac rounds of the championship, with the Frenchman labelling his car ‘undriveable’ on the way to seventh overall in Germany.
Ironically, in its first season, the C3 was at its strongest on asphalt with Kris Meeke coming within an ace of winning the Tour of Corsica in 2017. Since then, however, the chassis evolution has brought more understeer into the car and that’s where the focus of the testing has been.
The front of the car has been given a complete aerodynamic makeover, with a new splitter and additional wings.
Citroen tested for four days in total, three of which were on asphalt and two of those three were for Ogier. Esapekka Lappi completed the first day, with test driver Eric Camilli running a development day of testing on gravel on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of the day on the gravel, Citroen’s technical director Olivier Maroselli told MN: “So far so good. We mainly worked and improved on the diffs side. We found some interesting ideas on that side already on [the team’s] Satory [test] track and we could go further here on representative roads.
“It’s also the first time that we use on Tarmac the new front geometry introduced in Finland. We also worked on the dampers side. Everything combined, we solved the understeering issue, which was our main issue on the last Tarmac rounds. We clearly improved the balance of the car and the drivers’ feeling confirms it.
“But nothing replaces the race itself. What we don’t know yet, is if it will be enough or not in terms of performance. But we will keep working flat out until the rally to be as competitive as possible.”
Maroselli wouldn’t be drawn on the aero updates and which of them would be seen in time for next week’s Salou-based event. He said: “All I can say on this subject is that we are working flat out.”
A source in one of his rival teams said they would be watching with interest as Citroen arrived in Spain.
The source told MN: “That’s a lot of work all around the car. It’s going to be interesting to see how much of that comes, but if they’re not using it then you would ask the question of why Ogier would be driving the car with it on – especially at such a crucial time of the season.”
Citroen has already missed out on bringing updates for the C3 WRC; it had tested and planned new suspension parts for the car for Rally GB, only to be told they couldn’t be homologated until next season.