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CITROEN CONQUERSGERMANY ~ AGAIN!

- Citroen wins the WRC Rally of Germany for the third time in a row

- Loeb takes his second German Rally and his third career WRC win in just 12 months

- Citroen reaches its three wins in 2003 debut season target ~ with a third of the season to go.

Citroen has won its third ADAC Rally of Germany in succession, with Sébastien Loeb and his Citroen Xsara WRC winning the World Rally Championship round for the second year in succession, following on from Citroen’s 2001 win by Phillipe Bugalski in his Citroen Xsara.

The weekend (July 24-27) event provided Loeb, rapidly turning into rallying’s next superstar, with his second win of the season and the third of his short career ~ this is still both his and Citroen’s debut full season in the World Championship. The Germany round of the World Rally Championship brings Citroen’s 2003 account to three wins, with Loeb’s team mate Carlos Sainz’ win in Turkey, and that means Citroen has already met its target of three wins in 2003 with a third of the season still to go.

“We will now have to move the goal posts and aim for more wins in 2003,”admitted Guy Fréquelin, Citroën Sport’s Director. “We confirmed last year’s result here in even more difficult conditions. This means the team had handled the tricky conditions of this event well. But we must own up to one or two mistakes with the tyre choice. We could have scored some more points for the Championship.”

In 2002, Sébastien Loeb defended his lead in the Baumholder military camp that he gained in the Mosel vineyards. This year, he had use the unforgiving military roads lined with 20 tonne cement blocks to catch up after choosing the wrong tyres. He took the lead when attacking in the tank training area, despite terrible weather conditions.

During the last leg the battle between Loeb and current World Champion Marcus Grönholm was extremely intense. There was no gentle run to the finish to claim victory; Loeb had to fight to the last metre of the last stage.

“Last year the win had the taste of the first time, but this year I have proven it was no one off win and I have done it under more difficult conditions and with tougher competition,” said Loeb at the finish. “I really had to fight to keep Marcus behind. We all know how good he is in these tough conditions and I must admit I won’t forget such a close finish.”

Colin McRae targeted a podium finish. He was succeeding his goal on stage 18, after setting two fastest times, but then spun on stage 19 and dropped one place. Back in the fight with his usual determination, the Scot did a high speed 360° spin which led him to adopt a more cautious pace to reach the finish fourth.

“For sure, I am disappointed not to be on the podium, but once again the team’s result is fantastic,” the Scot said at the end of the rally.

Carlos Sainz was engaged in a dual with François Duval for sixth place. The Spaniard gained the advantage over his rival and scored three valuable points for the Championship, maintaining his second position. However this good result will not change his mind on the event not being his favourite.

“The stage routes of the military camp are too artificial for my taste,” said Sainz.“I am looking forward to the next asphalt rallies where we are racing on roads, not flat cement and I will feel totally confident in how the car will respond.”

Telefónica Movistar, Michelin, Magneti-Marelli, Kinetic, OZ, AIS and Citroën Financement are the partners of Team Citroën Total in the World Rally Championship

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ADAC DEUTSCHLAND RALLY IN FIGURES

Stage wins :

Leg 1 : SS1, SS2 : Richard Burns (Peugeot 206) – SS3, SS4 : Markko Märtin (Ford Focus) – SS5 : R. Burns – SS6 : Sébastien Loeb (Citroën Xsara) – SS7 : R. Burns

Leg 2 : SS8 : Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot 206) – SS9, SS10, SS11 : M. Märtin – SS12 : S. Loeb – SS13 : M. Märtin – SS14 : M. Grönholm – SS15 : M. Märtin – SS16 : Roman Kresta (Peugeot 206).

Leg 3 : SS17 and SS18 : Colin McRae (Citroën Xsara) – SS19 : Carlos Sainz(Citroën Xsara) – SS20, 21, and 22 : M. Märtin

Best performers

M. Märtin : 10 fastest times – R. Burns : 4 – S. Loeb : 2 – C. McRae : 2 - M. Grönholm : 2 – C. Sainz : 1 - R. Kresta : 1

Leaders

Leg 1 : SS1 to SS3 : R. Burns – SS4 : M. Märtin – SS5 to SS7 : R. Burns

Leg 2 : SS8 : R. Burns – SS9 to SS12 : M. Grönholm – SS13 to SS16 : S. Loeb

Leg 3 : SS17 to SS22 : S. Loeb

Overall classification

  1. S. Loeb – D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 3 h 46 mn 50,4 s
  2. M. Grönholm – T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 206) + 3,6 s
  3. R. Burns – R. Reid ( Peugeot 206) + 19,7 s
  4. C. McRae – D. Ringer (Citroën Xsara) + 31,4 s
  5. M. Märtin – M. Park (Ford Focus) + 57,9 s
  6. C. Sainz - M. Marti (Citroën Xsara) + 1 mn 38,6 s
  7. F. Duval - S. Prevot (Ford Focus) + 1 mn 48,1 s
  8. P. Solberg – Ph Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 2 mn 30,2 s
  9. C. Robert - G. Bedon (Peugeot 206) + 3 mn 12,8 s
  10. G. Panizzi – H. Panizzi (Peugeot 206) + 3 mn 39,6 s

Manufacturers’ Championship

1. Peugeot, 95 pts – 2. Citroën, 88 pts – 3. Ford, 50 pts - 4. Subaru, 49 pts –– 5. Skoda, 20 pts – 6. Hyundai, 7 pts

Drivers’ Championship

1. R. Burns, 43 pts – 2. C. Sainz, 39 pts – 3. M. Grönholm, 38 pts – 4. S. Loeb, 33pts – 5. P. Solberg, 30 pts – 6. C. McRae, 28 pts – 7. M. Martin, 27 pts– 8. H. Rovanperä, 16 pts – 9. T. Mäkinen, 15 pts – 10. F. Duval, 11 pts – 11. T. Gardemeister, 9 pts – 12. G. Panizzi, 6 pts – 13. D. Auriol, 4 pts – 14. M. Hirvonen, 3 pts – 15. C. Robert and A. McRae, 3 pts – 17. A. Schwarz, 3 pts – 18. A. Ginley, 1.

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For further information:

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Miles Williams

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Edward Rowe

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