Confidence high for Citroen in Germany

Citroen team chief Olivier Quesnel says he is confident his squad will return to winning ways when the world championship continues in Germany later this month.

The French make has never been beaten on the asphalt event since its elevation to the WRC in 2002, with Sebastien Loeb taking victory on all seven rallies that have run during that time.

Speaking after watching factory drivers Sebastien Ogier and Loeb lose out on victory in Finland on Saturday evening to Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala, Quesnel said: “There are now five events to do and three are on Tarmac and for Citroen and Loeb it should be good. Germany is a special event for Sebastien and I am rather confident everything will be okay.”

Citroen’s attack in Germany will be bolstered by its asphalt specialist Dani Sordo who returns to the main line-up after being sidelined to the Citroen Junior Team for Rally Finland.

“Sordo will be back in the Total team and we all know what he can achieve on Tarmac,” said Quesnel. “He wasn’t so happy in Finland but sometimes for a driver it’s not easy. We have seen that with Mikko [Hirvonen]. Last year he was performing very well but this year he has had some problems. You cannot always be the best and sometimes you have to wait to come back [to form] and I am sure Dani can do that. I have not a worry about him and he doesn’t need to be told we all believe in him because he knows this.”

Quesnel added that the decision to replace Sordo in the main Citroen team with Ogier in Finland had been vindicated, adding: “It was the right job for Citroen. For Germany Dani will be back in the main team and he knows what he has to do for the manufacturers’ championship.”

ADAC Rallye Deutschland, which is based in the historic city of Trier, runs from August 19-22.