November 19, 2015 – Citroen’s racing arm has announced today that it will skip the 2016 World Rally Championship season and that it has parted ways with nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb.
Citroen has decided to miss the 2016 WRC season in order to focus on the development of its new 2017 World Rally Car, but its 2017 return to the WRC will be at the expense of its World Touring Car Championsihp (WTCC) program, which will come to an end.
Citroen team principal Yves Matton said: “We have never hidden our interest in the 2017 WRC regulations and the entire team is extremely motivated by this new challenge.
“With a view to managing our resources efficiently, we have decided to focus all our efforts on designing and developing our new World Rally Car. This is why Citroen will not be competing in the 2016 World Rally Championship as a works team.”
Meanwhile, Sebastien Loeb, will leave Citroen after a 15-year partnership, and will be joining Peugeot Sport in 2016 to tackle the arduous Dakar Rally for the first time in his highly successful career.
Loeb, who won 78 WRC events in his time with Citroen, said: “This marks the end of one chapter for me, but what I want to focus on today is my satisfaction at having participated in Citroen’s success in the WRC and WTCC.
“I’ll miss their hunger for success and limitless motivation, but I won’t be far away – I’m staying within the PSA Peugeot Citroen group to take on a new challenge.”