From Europe to Latin America: the Citroen C3 Rally2 is the star of the show

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

The Citroën C3 Rally2 is a benchmark in its category; a national and international success story that continues to show its strengths with every passing season. With the #C3Rally2Family accumulating a growing number of victories and podiums, the mid-season break provides a perfect moment to reflect on all the different campaigns worldwide.

In WRC2, current championship leader Yohan Rossel got the year off to a great start with back-to-back victories in Monte-Carlo and Croatia. The Frenchman’s next outing will be at the epic #rally Finland from August 3-6. He will be joined by promising young Spaniard Alejandro Cachon. In his first season of WRC2 after winning the PEUGEOT #rally Cup Iberica, Cachon has been putting in some impressive performances.

The #c3rally2 has been racking up recent podiums and victories throughout a number of prominent national championships in Europe. Maxine Potty (PH Sport) leads the Belgian #rally Championship with three wins and four podiums from eight rallies. Andrea Crugnola (F.P.F. Sport) is unbeaten in Italy at the halfway point of the season and wins the title with three rounds to go. In Spain, Diego Ruiloba (Sports&You), has shown some stunning pace in his first season with the #c3rally2, aged just 22. With only a nine-point gap to the championship leader, the series is set for a thrilling conclusion.

In Latin America, #c3rally2 driver Ricardo Cordero brilliantly won the Sierras del Sur #rally and currently heads the Mexican #rally Championship as well as the FIA NACAM Zone #rally Championship. Brothers Pedro and Alberto Heller are first and second respectively in the Copec Rallymobil championship in Chile, which features some spectacular gravel roads.

In France, the 2023 French #rally Championship has put on a fantastic show with four big talents at the forefront. Halfway through the season, Yoann Bonato (CHL Sport Auto) is the current leader, ahead of Eric Camilli (PH Sport) and Hugo Margaillan (CHL Sport Auto). Just off this provisional podium is Leo Rossel (PH Sport) the winner of the 2022 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup, whose season has got off to an excellent start. There’s very little to separate all these drivers, with just a 22-point gap between Yoann and Leo – and everything to play for right up to the end of the season.

In order to allow the drivers to demonstrate all their talent, several test sessions have been carried out in recent months, with more planned for after the summer. The development teams continue their mission to continually improve the car, with their work focussed on unlocking yet more performance against the Rally2 competition.

Didier Clement, Customer #racing Director Stellantis Motorsport

“I’m very pleased to see that the #c3rally2 remains on top of its class thanks to the continual work of our development teams and that we’ve had so much success throughout the world, both on home territory and much further territory, such as Latin America. We’re aware of the short-term developments that we have to make to adapt to the tyres on gravel, but I’m not concerned as we’ve been able to carry out developments in the past within a short timescale. This know-how is uantified by our national and international victories with the #c3rally2, together with all its drivers. There’s a particularly exciting end to the French championship in store, with Yoann Bonato, Eric Camilli, Hugo Margaillan and Leo Rossel all fighting for top positions. In Spain, the young Diego Ruiloba has especially stood out thanks to some great performances. He’s currently fifth but not far off those ahead of him in terms of points, so there’s plenty at stake. It only remains for me to wish all our drivers and teams an excellent end to the season.”

Yohan Rossel (PH Sport), current WRC2 championship leader

“For now we’re leading the championship, despite the results in Estonia, but the goal is to be ready for #rally Finland. That’s going to be an incredible experience for me as a driver because it’s the first time that I’m going there and I think it’s important to experience roads like those ones as soon as possible. We’re working hard; we know our strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to put everything in place, piece by piece, by the end of the season so that that we’re able to fight at the front on every #rally. Generally we’ve got the season off to a good start without making mistakes; now we need to continue like this.”