Entering its seventh season of competition, the 150th Citroën C3 Rally2 has been delivered to its new owner. The iconic rally car that has gone from strength to strength ever since the first example was produced on 1 April 2018 continues to show its popularity around the world.
Over the last five years, constant improvements have kept the C3 Rally2 at the forefront of the competitive order. A variety of developments were brought in for 2023, enabling the car to take a big step forward in asphalt performance and the progress continues for gravel surfaces.
A comprehensive series of tests on both surfaces took place throughout the year: a sign of Citroën Racing’s unstoppable quest for world-class performance. From the engineering and research teams that design the cars to the test and development crews that refine them, and the technical assistance on the ground accompanying the #C3Rally2Family get the most performance out of the C3 Rally 2.
The result is a car that has benefitted enormously from years of continuous evolution, with its performance backed up by its maturity and established reliability. Still, the C3 Rally2’s development has not reached its peak.
The intense competitiveness of the various championships and the high demands drives Citroën Racing to keep working to bring updates to the car. Reinforced by a great number of successes all over the world, Citroën Racing remains a true benchmark of rallying.
This season was yet again fruitful for the #C3Rally2Family around the world and in the most important categories, including third place overall for Yohan Rossel and co-driver Arnaud Dunand in WRC2. Despite stiff competition, the French crew won in Monte-Carlo and Croatia, finished third in Greece, and placed fourth in Sardinia, Portugal, and Chile – making it six top four finishes out of seven nominated rounds.
Rossel continues with Citroën Racing for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, with a new teammate, Nikolay Gryazin, giving the squad an extra element for success.
In the European Rally Championship, there were three fantastic wins for the Citroën C3 Rally2, courtesy of Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud in the Canary Islands, Andrea Crugnola and Piero Ometto on the Rally di Roma, and former Citroën factory driver Mads Østberg navigated by Patrik Barth in Hungary.
Latin America is a growing market for the C3 Rally2, and Ricardo Cordero Jr and Marco Hernandez dominated the Mexican and NACAM Championships once again for their third triumph with Citroën Racing. In Chile, Gerardo Rosselot and Marcelo Brizio became RC2 champions, with Pedro Heller and Pablo Olmos finishing second in RC2 Pro.
The C3 Rally2 confirmed its performance in a variety of national championships worldwide. Miguel Ángel Suárez and Eduardo Gonzalez won the Canarias championship, while the young Spaniard Diego Ruiloba claimed the S-CER Junior title.
The Belgians Maxime Potty and Renaud Herman were champions at home, while Crugnola and Ometto won the Italian series. Finally, the Citroën Racing crew of Martin Surilov and Zdravko Zdravkov were Bulgarian champions.
In France it was an impressive one-two-three at the end of the year. Bonato became French champion for the fifth time since 2017, all with the Citroën C3 Rally2. He led home Eric Camilli and Leo Rossel, the 2022 Stellantis Rally Cup champion, who produced some great performances in his first season with the C3 Rally2. Hugo Margaillan also impressed with a series of podium finishes before an accident shortened his season.
The C3 Rally2 car is constantly evolving with the help of Citroën Racing, remaining popular and successful among both new and established customers. Thanks to its constant updates, it continues to fight at the sharp end – to make the season even more thrilling.
THEY SAID…
Didier Clement: Stellantis Motorsport Customer Racing Sporting Manager
“The 2023 season has come to an end with some superb performances from our #C3Rally2Family drivers: 2 wins for Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand in WRC2, Yohan Bonato’s fifth title in France and Andrea Crugnola’s third in Italy. In Belgium, Maxime Potty became the youngest-ever Belgian champion. We also had some great results in Ireland and the UK, remembering the brilliant performances of riders like Diego Ruiloba, Leo Rossel, Hugo Margaillan, Eric Camilli, Ricardo Cordero Jr and many others. We’re proud of this great family!
The C3 Rally2 will be entering its seventh season, and although it has already reached maturity, it will continue to evolve to remain at the top of the Rally2 category. All our customers will, therefore, continue to benefit from a high-performance car. We’re looking forward to 2024 with renewed ambitions!”
Yohan Rossel (PH Sport): Driver, third in the 2023 WRC2 championship standings
“I’ve been part of the #C3Rally2Family since 2018, and I’m very proud of that, especially as the car’s development has been no mean feat! There’s been a lot of work on the C3Rally2, which can only be beneficial. Today, we’re a benchmark on asphalt. There’s still a bit of progress to be made on gravel, but I have confidence in the teams; everyone is aware of that, especially as the competition in Rally2 is getting more demanding and more challenging, with many drivers coming down from Rally1. It’s also an excellent showcase for manufacturers like Citroën, so it’s up to us, as the official driver, to get our car to perform as well as possible. I’m delighted to be back in the C3 Rally2 in 2024, to win more and more races and I hope the title!”
