The Citroën DS3 R3 makes its mark
It was another remarkable performance over the weekend from the Citroën DS3 R3, whichtook its fourth class win on the Rallye International du Valais: the penultimate round of theEuropean Rally Championship. Not content with claiming a win in the two-wheel drivecategory, the Réseau Citroën France car also finished on the third step of the overallpodium, having set two fastest stage times on Saturday.
After the asphalt of Ireland, followed by both gravel and asphalt events in France, the DS3 R3confirmed its ability to adapt itself to different types of terrain by putting in a breathtakingperformance on the mountain roads of Switzerland. This fourth class victory, together with anoverall podium on the European event, represents a huge step forwards in the DS3’s progress,after it was pitted against much more powerful cars on a notoriously tricky rally run in challengingwinter conditions.
From the very first stage on Thursday the DS3 was on a charge, taking the lead of the two-wheeldrive category by setting three fastest times on the icy Anzère and Crans Montana stages. Fridaylooked set to be another thrilling day, which then turned into a truly historic one. In total therewere 130 kilometres of special stages on the menu, with the epic Les Cols test as a highlight.As Thierry Neuville pointed out: “The roads were really tricky throughout day two. Weencountered snow, a lot of damp, and also some mud.” It was a situation that suited the DS3R3 perfectly, which soon set its first overall fastest stage time in the hands of the talented youngBelgian. On the following stage, the car was slowed down by a puncture, dropping two minutesto slide down to 11th overall. But Citroën’s new baby fought back to pull off another remarkablefeat on the closing stage of the day. One more fastest stage time meant that Neuville stormedback up the leaderboard, making up six places. The Citroën ended the day second in Group R,just 38 seconds off its key rival and in the top five overall.
The final day promised another close battle to end the rally on a high. The Citroën DS3 did nothold back and made up the 38-second deficit in the 13-kilometre Nendaz test alone, reclaimingthe lead of the two-wheel drive category.
Through setting some astonishing stage times, the DS3 worked its way up to third overall; aposition it maintained all the way to the end. At the finish ramp in Martigny, another class winwas sealed.
Frédéric Bertrand, in charge of Citroën Racing’s customer competition department, said: “Wetake our hats off to the Citroën DS3 R3 and the crew of Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Klinger,who have turned in a remarkable performance this weekend. We’re practically at the end ofour work to finalise the car’s development, and we can honestly say that it excelled in thedemanding conditions of Switzerland with extremely challenging weather. We’re especiallyproud of this fourth success, and the orders keep coming in. The DS3 is clearly both anefficient and reliable rally car, which the results have confirmed once more.”
Thierry Neuville added : “We are delighted with this fantastic result and at the same timesad to get out of the DS3 R3. We had a lot of fun driving it, and the car showed itself to beextremely competitive and reliable throughout the rally. We knew that we faced a toughtask this weekend, thanks to the snowy and icy nature of the roads, but the work that wedid during the recce was very useful. It’s also clear that the Citroën DS3 R3 can easily adaptitself to all different types of terrain and that it has real potential that allowed us – amongother things – to set two fastest stage times and quickly climb back up the leaderboardfollowing our puncture.”
The Citroën DS3 R3 now heads south to end its 2010 season on the Rallye du Var, the finalround of the French Rally Championship. This next appearance is set to be an exciting one, asthe brilliant Sébastien Ogier takes the wheel, determined to end the year on a high note.
