Lefebvre set for World Rally Car debut in Germany

Stéphane Lefebvre’s competitive debut in a top-line World Rally Car is one of the highlights of the entry list for the upcoming ADAC Rallye Deutschland [20 - 23 August].

The Frenchman, the reigning Junior WRC and WRC 3 champion, will step up to Citroën’s DS 3 WRC from the R5 and RRC versions he is campaigning in this year’s WRC 2 championship.

It will Lefebvre’s first time on the Trier-based rally in a four-wheel-drive car, and only his second time driving one on asphalt after his first appearance in the R5 at Rallye Monte-Carlo in January.

"I’m very excited," the 23-year-old told wrc.com. "I know the lateral grip is better with a World Rally Car than an R5, and generally everything happens much faster, but until I get behind the wheel I really have no idea what to expect."

Lefebvre will test for just one day before the rally, but can count on the support of his experienced co-driver Stéphane Prévot.

"It’s not a lot of preparation but this is the game," he said. "The support Stéphane gives me inside the car is very important. Of course it also helps that we will be on asphalt, which I have a lot of experience on and is my favourite surface. I prefer it to gravel. When it comes to targets, I want to do my best, make progress stage after stage and try to reduce the gap to the faster drivers."

Lefebvre is one of 17 World Rally Car entries on the German entry list. Joining the regular Volkswagen, M-Sport, Hyundai and Citroën manufacturer squads, Kevin Abbring will make his third appearance in a Hyundai i20 while Jaroslav Melichárek will drive a Ford Fiesta RS.

The FIA’s RGT class will be represented by Francois Delecour and Romain Dumas, both at the wheel of Porsche 911 GT3 cars. The rally counts as a round of the WRC 2, WRC 3 and Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. We will bring you news on each of these categories in our wrc.com rally previews.