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The Citroën Racing Trophy looks to 2010 The Rallye du Var in France was the last event on the eight Citroën Racing Trophy programmes, concluding the season with another inspired perfor- mance from the Citroën drivers. The different Trophy series organised by Citroën Racing have been a huge success in France and in other European countries, where the Citroën C2-R2 MAX and C2 Super 1600 have trium- phed and claimed titles. Number 5 - Tuesday 22nd December 2009 a The flexibility of the formula, the Lcompetitiveness of Citroën’s pro- ducts and the realistic chance of win- SOMMAIRE ning prize money has provoked inte- UK : Jason Pritchard wins the Tempest Rally. rest that has surpassed expectations. Belgium/Luxembourg: Neuville unstoppable on the Having attracted a large number of com- Condroz Rally. petitors, an even bigger and better Citroën Ireland : McElhinney is crowned champion. Racing Trophy will be back in 2010. A fi- Poland: Tomasz Porebski wins the Group R title. nal classification will be drawn up within the three different types of event that the French Portugal: A third victory for Gomes, Antunes wins the dri- vers’ title, Citroën claims the constructors’ championship. Citroën Racing Trophy drivers can take part in. An end of year prize will also be awarded France : Manu Gascou wins Group R on the Cardabelles Rally and is the best of the Trophy drivers on the Cé- to the drivers scoring the most points. New vennes. Thierry Neuville is fourth on the Antibes Rally. countries such as Switzerland are additio- Thierry Venturini matches him on the Vaucluse Rally. At nally joining the series by setting up a Trophy the Coupe de France regional rallies final, Marc Amou- programme – further expanding the choice rette triumphs in a hotly-contested Group N field. Bryan of events available to Citroën customers. Bouffier finishes just off the podium on the Rallye du Var. The Citroën Racing Trophy’s popularity in 2009 Romania: Alex Filip ends the season on a high. is sure to be carried over into 2010, with all the Czech Republic: Miroslav Plíhal is sixth on the Bohemia Citroën drivers eager to get stuck into some more Rally. action… Switzerland: The 2010 Citroën Racing Trophy is success- fully launched on the Rallye de Valais. TEMPEST RALLY WEXFORD Pritchard McElhinney brings a breath of fresh air wins the This rally, based at Aldershot in Ireland Trophy southern England, does not form On the Wexford part of the Citroën Racing Trophy UK Rally, points were calendar. So Jason Pritchard’s mis- awarded after each sion, together with his new co-driver of the two legs. Robbie Durrant, was simply to find On the first day, a good rhythm on the event – which Paul Manton was the quickest driver was exclusively reserved for two- to take maximum wheel drive cars. The Builth Wells points. Adrian McElhinney and his co- driver then took advantage of the adjustable suspension on his C2-R2 MAX to driver Shane Buckley were slowed by adapt his car to the territory, take the lead, and claim a well-deserved victory. It an alternator problem, a flattened ex- was his first overall win and the second for the C2-R2 MAX, following Thierry haust and a troublesome clutch cable. However, this did not stop them from Neuville’s triumph at the ADAC Rallye Kohle und Stahl. eventually finishing fourth and scoring enough points to seal the Trophy. With the title race over, leg two started off in exactly the same way. Manton domina- ted before going off the road. McElhin- ney took advantage of this in order to confirm his title with an extra victory. CONDROZ MORTAGUÀ Neuville ends Gomes fifth the year on a high The penultimate round of the Portu- guese Championship and the Citroën Following the cancellation of the Luxembourg Rally, the Citroën Racing Trophy Racing Trophy Portugal took place on Belux drivers found themselves at the start of the 36th Rallye du Condroz in the the Rally de Mortaguà, to the north of Huy region of Belgium. The presence of Dutchman Hans Weijs, who won the Lisbon between Coimbra and Viseu. Junior World Rally Championship class in Catalunya, added extra spice to the This all-asphalt event did not favour Paulo Antunes. A radiator problem occasion. Initially, he placed his C2-R2 MAX backed by the Dutch motorsport cost him a lot of time on SS2. No- federation ahead of Thierry Neuville’s similar car, entered by the RACB National netheless, he fought his way back up Team. Neuville had never driven in slippery conditions like these before, and the leaderboard to score two points took his time to learn the roads. Then he fought back. The young Belgian was that proved vital for the two-litre, two- already in the lead when Weijs made a couple of mistakes, and despite two wheel drive championship. Fédérico Gomes finished as the highest-placed punctures Neuville eventually triumphed. He ended up winning both Group R Citroën driver for the second consecu- and the two-wheel drive category on the event. Caren Burton inherited second tive time, claiming fifth in Group R. following a puncture for David Croes, who was happy with third on his Trophy debut. ALGARVE DOLNOSLASKI Antunes and Citroën Porebski scoop titles crowned Polish champion Fédérico Gomes was the top-placed Citroën driver for the third time on the all-asphalt Algarve Rally, the final round At the end of the 17 stages that made up the 19th Rajd Dolnos- of the championship. At the end of the laski, the final round of the Polska Trophy, Tomasz Porebski finished sixth ove- event, where he scored five all-impor- rall and first of the C2-R2 MAX runners. The Citroëns were at the forefront tant points in his C2-R2 MAX, Paulo of the action, thanks to one second-fastest and two third-fastest stage times. Antunes claimed the drivers’ title and Porebeski became Polish Group R and A6 champion, ahead of Marcin Do- Citroën took the constructors’ cham- pionship in the two-litre, two-wheel browolski and Jan Chmielewski. drive category. CARDABELLES VAR Gascou on top Bouffier just off the podium The Cardabelles Rally, round six of the French Gravel Championship, took place The final rally of the Citroën Racing around the town of Séverac-le-Château, in the Midi-Pyrenees region of southern Trophy season saw 10 competitors France. Once more the C2-R2 MAXs dominated Group R. The event was charac- take the start. Marc Amourette and terised by a battle between Manu Gascou/Céline Chapus and Jérôme Jacquot/ Gwénola Marie were 10th in their Ci- troën C2 Super 1600 until a storm Max Nouvion from the very start. Gascou, from Montpellier, finally seized the hit the stages on Sunday morning, upper hand and then never looked back. The Frenchman became the fifth dri- dropping them to 14th place. Having ver to triumph in Group R with the C2-R2 MAX this season. He also claimed been disadvantaged by a notional ninth overall. Behind him, Jérôme Jacquot managed to fend off an attack from time on the first special stage, Bryan Frantz Comoli/Annabelle Cortot. They finished second and third in Group R Bouffier and Matthieu Baumel drove a great rally to finish just off the Group respectively.Jérôme Jacquot and his co-driver sealed the two-wheel drive Coupe R podium in their Citroën C2-R2 de France, giving the C2-R2 MAX another French Gravel Championship title. MAX. Jean-Renaud Marchal and his son Michaël fulfilled their objective of finishing the rally, with ninth place in Group R. Éric and Nadine Lafont were the fourth Trophy crew home, ahead of Julien Abelli and Isabelle Galmiche. The former circuit racer continued his learning programme and could have finished higher had he not picked up a puncture. COUPE DE FRANCE FINAL Amourette wins Group R At the Coupe de France final held this year in Dunkirk, Marc Amourette and VAUCLUSE Gwénola Marie put in a remarkable performance. Faced with the best drivers from all the different regions in France, they put their C2-R2 MAX straight into Venturini best of the Group R lead from the very opening stage. The Citroën crew maintained their the Citroën drivers rapid pace and clung onto the position until the finish, which they crowned with Over the two days of the French Gravel a magnificent 10th place overall. Championship’s final round, Manu Gascou/Céline Chapus and Thierry Venturini/Hubert Rissert fought a CEVENNES tough battle to reach the Group R po- dium. Thierry Venturini finally finished Gascou fourth fifth while Manu Gascou was ninth. at home The 52nd Critérium des Cévennes benefited from a heavily revised route this year but still lived up to its fearsome reputation. The Citroën crews were fast over both Friday’s dry stages and in wet conditions on Saturday. Local man Manu Gascou, navigated by Gilles de Turckheim, was the highest- placed Trophy entrant with fourth in Group R at the end. They finished ahead of Éric and Nadine Lafont, who were seventh. ANTIBES Thierry Neuville just misses a podium In order to celebrate the successful launch of the Citroën Racing Trophy in eight different European countries, Citroën gathered together the best dri- RALIUL ARGESULLUI vers in each series on the Antibes Ral- ly. A total of 19 crews headed off into Alex Filip stages made famous by the Monte wraps up Carlo Rally. By the end of the opening the Trophy day, Marc Amourette and Gwénola Marie were fifth in their Citroën C2 Su- The third and final event of the Citroën per 1600.

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