Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi foresees the beginning of a new chapter for Citroen Total Abu Dhabi following the team’s 1-2 finish at Xion Rally Argentina over the weekend, where Northern Irishman Kris Meeke won his first ever FIA World Rally Championship event with Norwegian team-mate Mads Ostberg the runner-up.
– Meeke’s maiden WRC win ends Sebastien Ogier’s run of success
– Citroen Total AD driver Meeke closing on Rally Argentina win
– Citroen Total AD World Rally Team lead the way in Rally Argentina
The last time Citroen recorded a 1-2 finish was at Finland 2012 when Sebastien Loeb won the event with then team-mate Mikko Hirvonen the runner-up.
Since Loeb’s retirement from the WRC, bar a limited appearance in 2013 and 2014, Citroen’s fortunes have declined, the Versailles, France-based team struggling to add to the nine constructors’ titles secured during the Loeb era.
But the result in Argentina seems to have injected new enthusiasm and infused a fresh burst of confidence in the entire team at Citroen.
#WRC #RallyArgentina @khalidbinfaisal/Chris Patterson, 6th O/A @CitroenRacing “Thank you team for the great work” pic.twitter.com/u8LSeO4WaH
— AbuDhabiRacing (@AbuDhabiRacing1) April 26, 2015
Sheikh Khalid said: “The result in Argentina was fantastic; it has given all of us new confidence. Technical director Xavier Mestelan-Pinon has done a great job with the car.
“Everything with the DS3 was perfect… the set up, everything.
“Kris [Meeke] and Mads [Ostberg] will derive a lot of confidence going forward, especially for the round in Portugal [May 21-24],” he added.
Citroen will debut their new version of the DS3 at Rally Portugal.
One source of satisfaction for Sheikh Khalid, who is also Abu Dhabi Racing chairman, is the fact that Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT has now been catapulted to joint second from fourth in the team standings.
#WRC #RallyArgentina #photooftheday @khalidbinfaisal and amazing #RallyFans #AbuDhabiRacing pic.twitter.com/Tf9WKLdjVK
— AbuDhabiRacing (@AbuDhabiRacing1) April 27, 2015
Likewise, Ostberg has moved up from fourth to second and Meeke from 11th to joint fifth in the drivers’ standings.
With regard to his own performance on his Argentina debut season-opener, Sheikh Khalid said: “During this rally, I had to focus on learning about the 2015-spec DS3 WRC, which is new to me.
“On my first appearance here, I drove at 50 per cent, sometimes at 75 per cent so I’m pleased with the result.”
Sheikh Khalid finished a strong sixth overall at the weekend.
