Citroen Junior Team in the Spotlight for 2010

PARIS – February 9, 2010: For its second consecutive season in the FIA World Rally Championship, the Citroën Junior Team will enter two Citroën C4 WRCs. The difference in 2010 is that Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will be joined by the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen and co-driver Kaj Lindström, placing the team well and truly in the spotlight for the new season, which starts this weekend (11th - 14th February) with Rally Sweden.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia enjoyed a remarkable first full season at the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC in 2009 and they start the 2010 season with the same motivation - and a year’s worth of vital experience under their belts. Ogier comments, “I just can’t wait to start driving the Citroën C4 WRC in the heat of competition again. It seems a very long time now since the 2009 season ended!”

Having contested the Monte Carlo Rally at the start of the year, Sébastien was in Finland last week to prepare for Rally Sweden with a day of testing close to Rovaniemi. Ogier continues, “We covered around 200 kilometres in order to get to grips with the car again and work on the set-up of the Citroën C4 WRC. I’m very pleased with the way that the car is handling. I quickly felt comfortable again and I love driving in these conditions.”

Rally Sweden will be a brand new experience for Sébastien Ogier. Nonetheless, he hopes to put the experience he gained on Rally Norway last year to good use. “Actually, we’re getting rather used to driving on rallies for the first time,” added Sébastien. “I hope that we can show what we are capable of against what is always very strong opposition on these winter rallies. Our objective on this first event of the year is just to continue to progress.”

Making his debut alongside the 2008 Junior World Rally Champions is Kimi Räikkönen. The handful of rally events he contested in 2009 has given the Finn the desire to embark on a full season with the Citroën Junior Team.

Following some test sessions and a run on the Arctic Lapland Rally, Kimi Räikkönen has covered nearly 600 kilometres with the Citroën C4 WRC. Räikkönen comments, “I’m just really keen to get to the start of Rally Sweden now. With Citroën, we have made some good preparations for this event. All the kilometres I already have behind me will allow me to begin the rally with no particular worries. I know that I still have many things to learn though and plenty of experience to accumulate.”

He continued, “My goal is simply to do my best with the Citroën C4 WRC. My debut in the World Rally Championship is an enormous challenge, but any driver who has competed in motorsport at a certain level always maintains the same way of working and the same desire to push themselves. I feel that I’m ready to take on this challenge now.”