Citroen Racing World

Citroens history goes all the way back to 1926 when they came third in the Monte Carlo Rally, proving that Citroens current form in rally racing has been a long time coming and not just an overnight achievement. Five years later in 1931, Citroen made its first appearance on the track at Montlhery with the C6F model, and then in 1934 Citroen found its way back into the Monte Carlo with the Traction 11 AL which proved it longevity when it travelled a record breaking 400,000 kilometres in one year!

In the sixties things really started kicking off with the arrival of the Citroen DS, are car which is still appreciated to this day, and came third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition. A few years after its introduction the Citroen DS was playing its part in numerous successes including another Monte Carlo Win in 1966, doing a great deal to showcase Citroens strengths when it comes to car manufacturing.

More success came later on in the 60s with Citroen entering its cars directly under its own name in turn spawning Citroens first ever racing department with Citroen excelling in the European events. The 70s was also a decade of much interest when it comes to Citroens impact on the world racing stage. This decade saw the arrival of the Citroen SM which was entered into the Moroccan Rally, Citroens reliability and sound build prevailed once again and the Citroen SM won the Moroccan Rally. Unfortunately Citroens driver Rene Cotton, was to pass away in 1972, leaving his wife and associate Marlene Cotton to take the wheel and in turn become the first ever woman in the world to head the Racing Department of a major car manufacturer. Marlene chose to take the Citroen DS3 back to the track and achieved its final award in 1974. The CX followed the DS and proved to be a worthy vehicle winning in Senegal both in 1977 and 1978.

Just over ten years later the Citroen Sport Department was born and put under the management of former rally driver; Guy Frequelin. Guy Frequelin’s reign represents a superb period in Citroens rally history, his team won their first race in 1990 with the Citroen ZXs which was a double victory in Baja Espana, and they started as the meant to go one! Since then the Citroen Sport team has produced a superb record achieving 36 wins out of the 42 races they entered in the Rally-Raid program. After this, Citroen went back to classic rallying and introduced the Saxon kit car in conjunction with the French Championship where it would go on to be runner up. Not long after the Xsara kit car arrived which also achieved much in its rally career, winning an impressive amount of titles abroad as well as in France. In 2000 the new 4×4 T4 Xsara arrived and put on an incredible show at that years French championship winning the national title with a 7 of 7 race record. The T4 Xsara was also winning elsewhere, gaining it a Spanish rally title and in turn gaining Citroen their second consecutive Manufacturer’s title.

Citroen continued their rally success into the 21^st century with the Xsara WRC becoming victorious in the Tour of Corsica and coming 2^nd in the San Remo rally.