ATKINSON LEADS CITROEN JUNIOR TEAM HOME IN IRELAND
Australian World Rally Championship driver, Chris Atkinson, has made an extremely promising start with his new team, the Citroën Junior Team, finishing fifth in the 2009 season opener, the Rally of Ireland (29 January – 1 February 2009), impressing all who watched him battle the difficult conditions.
The roads in Ireland were so wet that Atkinson was running on snow tyres for most of the event as only these tyres designed to deal with slushy snow could shift the amount of water being dumped on the roads. On day one Atkinson had an off that was more spectacular to watch than it was damaging and he spent day two getting on the pace in his new Citroën C4 WRC, finishing the day a hairs breath away from climbing from fifth to fourth place.
For the first time since the start of the Rally Ireland, the sun made an appearance over Sligo on the final day. The roads were damp in the morning, but progressively dried out over the course of the day. Continuing a tried and tested solution from Friday, the three Citroen Junior Team crews carried on using Pirelli’s Sottozero snow tyres.
On the first loop of three stages close to Sligo, Chris Atkinson managed to overhaul Henning Solberg to claim fourth place.
“We’ve achieved our objective, but the conditions are still really marginal,” Atkinson said. “Even though there’s no standing water, the roads are still damp and there are a lot of traps to get sucked into!”
During the second loop of stages, Atkinson continued to use the Pirelli Sottozero snow tyres while his rival chose Pirelli’s PZero asphalt tyres. The duel came to an end on Donegal Bay (SS18).
“I braked too late,” admitted Atkinson. “Consequently we lost a minute. Fourth place would have been a good result but I’m not going to be disappointed by a top five placing on such a difficult event. I was still learning the Citroen C4 WRC on this rally. The car was quick and reliable, and the Citroen Junior Team helped me to make a lot of progress with it. I hope to drive the car again very soon!”
With Sébastien Ogier finishing one spot behind Chris Atkinson and Conrad Rautenbach in 18th place, all three Citroën Junior Team C4 WRCs made it to the rally finish, a highly positive result for Team Manager Benoit Nogier.
“The overall result is remarkable,” he pointed out. “We didn’t have the slightest technical problem, which underlines the excellent reliability of the C4 WRC. Sébastien and Conrad learnt a lot and made plenty of progress over the weekend. Over the course of the three days, Sébastien set some very promising times given the conditions. For a driver who is still learning the car, it was an excellent performance. Chris Atkinson’s fifth position is an excellent result, and we hope that he will be back with the Citroen Junior Team as soon as possible. He has shown, once again, that he can mix it with the best drivers in the world.”
Provisional final classification, 2009 Rally of Ireland
1. Loeb/Elena Citroën C4 2h48’25’’7
2. Sordo/Marti Citroën C4 +1’27’’9
3. Hirvonen/Lehtinen Ford Focus +2’07’’8
4. Solberg/Menkerud Ford Focus +6’32’’4
5. Atkinson/Prévot Citroën C4 +7’51’’9
6. Ogier/Ingrassia Citroën C4 +10’44’’0
7. Wilson/Martin Ford Focus +11’23’’8
8. Qassimi/Orr Ford Focus +14’07’’9
9. Boland/Morrissey Subaru Impreza +15’23’’4
10. Aava/Sikk Ford Focus +15’35’’4
…
18. Rautenbach/Barritt Citroën C4 +36’37’’9
(ends)
Editor’s Note: Broadcast Quality audio clips of Chris Atkinson and Sébastien Loeb are available from the Ateco Media Web Site.
For further information:
Citroën Australia Media Web Site: http://media.ateco.com.au/
Miles Williams
/ Tel: (02) 9701 8020General Manager / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0419 800 520
E-Mail:
Gus Burrows / Mob: +33 (0) 64800 9497
Public Relations Manager / E-Mail:
Atkinson Motor Sport
Edward Rowe
/ Tel: (02) 9701 8015Public Relations Manager / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0407 913 244
E-Mail:
Citroen Australia
Street Address: Heritage Building, Campus Business Park, 350 Parramatta Road, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia. Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd,Locked Bag 260, Silverwater, NSW 1811, Australia
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EJR/ejr/886
2/2/2009