Citroën to quit rally and go to DTM

Citroën World Rally car

A news story posted yesterday on Italiaracing.net states that representatives from French car manufacturer Citroën recently met with DTM officials to discuss the possibility of joining the touring car series.

The DTM organization has been working very hard during the recent years to bring a third constructor to their series. Opel left the DTM at the end of 2004, and has not been replaced yet. This situation has hit the credibility of the DTM.

According to the latest reports, Wolfgang Ullrich (Audi) and Norbert Haug (Mercedes-Benz) had a meeting with representatives from Citroën who wanted to discuss certain issues such as the sporting and technical rules, the budgets, the visibility and others.

Seeing Citroën leave the World Rally Championship is not so silly than it may seem. Citroën has captured four consecutive world titles in recent years and has nothing to prove in that category.

Additionally, the FIA want to change the technical rules of the WRC, going to two-wheel drive vehicles, something which does not impress the constructors involved.

The Citroën C5 would fit the DTM rules, expect for its engine. DTM cars must be powered by V8 engines derived from a production car of the make. But it appears that Citroën could receive "customer" engines from a supplier.