The UAE’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi believes Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team is prepared for life after Sébastien Loeb and can successfully defend its world titles this season.
For the first time since 2006, Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena will be missing when the dominant manufacturer in the World Rally Championship sends its cars into action at this weekend’s Rally Mexico.
At the third round of this year’s WRC series, which starts in Guanajuato City on Thursday evening, the current leaders in the manufacturers’ standings will be represented by Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, who are contesting all 13 rounds on this year’s calendar, and Spain’s Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio, who take over from Loeb and Elena.
With the two crews facing a tough examination of their title credentials, Al Qassimi, who is not competing in Mexico, is confident the two Abu Dhabi-branded DS3 WRCs can maintain a powerful WRC title challenge.
“Obviously, Sebastien will be missed,” said Al Qassimi. “He won nine WRC drivers titles in a row and has made a massive contribution to the overall success of Citroën Racing. This is still a fantastic team though and all the experience gained over the last ten years in the WRC is being put behind Mikko and Dani to help land another world title.”
Contesting nine rounds this season with the second of the teams created by the partnership between Abu Dhabi Racing and Citroën, Al Qassimi and British co-driver Scott Martin will have their next WRC outing in next month’s Rally De Portugal.
In their place in Mexico will be Australian Chris Atkinson and Belgian co-driver Stéphane Prévot, who were selected by Al Qassimi to drive the DS3 WRC of the Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team.
Grateful for the chance, 2008 Rally Mexico runner-up Atkinson said: “It’s a magnificent opportunity for me because I had no plans to take part in the World Championship this season. I hope I can secure a top five finish. That would be a good result.”
With Loeb having retired from full-time competitive rallying, Hirvonen – eager to get his season on track following a fourth place finish in Monte Carlo and opening day crash in Sweden – is relishing the challenge to take over his lead role. The team’s new number one has high expectations for this first WRC gravel rally of 2013.
“For me, this is where the season starts for real,” he said. “We now have a very good idea of the level of our rivals. I think we can say that we’ll have to fight on every stage and produce a series of flawless performances in order to win rallies.
“Last year, I was pretty close to Seb for long periods of this rally. I know I am capable of producing very good performances on this surface and I like competing here. My job is to get the best possible result and help Citroën to win. All the people supporting me want that too. I feel full of positive energy and I can’t wait to show everyone that I can win.”
If he can achieve his aim in Mexico, Hirvonen will be walking tall in a pair of locally-made cowboy boots, traditionally gifted to the winning crew after an oxygen-sapping drive through the mountains surrounding León, Guanajuato and Silao, where crews race in altitudes some 2,600 metres above sea level. The rally finishes on Sunday, March 9th, after 396.82 km of special stages in a total route of 1,017 km.
