— Following a highly impressive performance at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, Stéphane Lefebvre and Stéphane Prévot will drive a DS 3 WRC at the Tour de Corse (1-4 October).
— At an event that will be new to the entire World Championship field, the Franco-Belgian crew will be able to draw upon their experience on tarmac as they aim to keep improving.
FIA Junior WRC Champion in a DS 3 R3 in 2014, Stéphane Lefebvre can count on the expertise of Citroën Racing when it comes to supporting the development of promising young drivers. Before him, Sébastien Loeb, Dani Sordo, Kris Meeke, Sébastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville all saw their careers boosted by the French manufacturer. Now it is the turn of the talented Frenchman to benefit from a programme designed to unleash his potential.
Since the start of the 2015 season, Stéphane Lefebvre – supported by his vastly experienced co-driver, Stéphane Prévot – has had the opportunity to get used to driving a four-wheel drive car by taking part in all of the world championship rounds in a DS 3 R5 or a RRC, his best result being a WRC2 category win at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
A few days ago, the Franco-Belgian crew reached new heights when they competed in their first rally together in a DS 3 WRC. Stéphane Lefebvre delivered a very promising performance in Germany, free of any serious mistakes and featuring times that became increasingly close to those of the leading drivers. He ended up tenth overall and therefore scored his first World Championship point!
“Stéphane produced the sort of performance we had been expecting. I’d even go as far as to say that he slightly exceeded the goals we had set for him,” emphasized Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “Focussed and committed from start to finish, he improved his out-and-out speed, whilst also showing an encouraging level of technical awareness. In light of this, and in accordance with his programme which included two rallies in the DS 3 WRC, he will be taking part in the Tour de Corse in the same car. He will therefore hopefully be able to make use of his first experience on tarmac in Germany and pick up where he left off.”
“I’m very pleased to be competing at this legendary rally in the DS 3 WRC,” confirmed a visibly delighted Stéphane Lefebvre. “It’s a rally that will be new for all the WRC drivers, but I have actually competed here twice before in small cars and so I know what to expect. For me, as someone who comes from the north of France, the profile of the Corsican roads is the exact opposite of the roads I know best! But I can already imagine how much fun it will be to drive on these stages in the DS 3 WRC… I think that the main difficulty will lie in finding the limits of the car on a surface with a very high level of grip. It’ll be a little bit less of a journey into the unknown than last week, especially as I’ll be taking part in a pre-event test in order to prepare specifically for this round. I’ll be looking to start with the same positive energy as in Germany, and keep reducing the gap to the top guys.”
Before turning their attention to the Tour de Corse, Stéphane Lefebvre and Stéphane Prévot will be making the long trip to the southern hemisphere in order to take part in recce for Rally Australia (10-13 September).