Citroen Racing continues to be involved in rallying. This afternoon it announced the two drivers it will field in the 2024 WRC season, in the WRC2 class.
We are talking about Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin. The French driver has been part of the Citroen family for several years now, while the Russian driver will be making his first appearance with the French company which will entrust its C3 Rally2 cars to the DG Sport team in 2024.
“We are all very happy that Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Alexandrov are joining us in the WRC2 championship – a crew whose talent and experience are universally recognised,” said Didier Clement, sporting director of Stellantis Motorsport Customer Racing.
“In addition, we can count on Yohan Rossel, a driver who made his way in the youth categories of Stellantis Motorsport. These two talents will be part of the Belgian DG Sport team which will represent Citroen Racing in the 2024 World Rally Championship next year.”
“Their programs will begin as early as next weekend, when they will participate in the Rallye du Devoluy in the south of France to prepare for the Rallye Monte-Carlo.”
Together with Citroen, Rossel won the WRC3 title in 2021, while this year he managed to win the Rallye Monte-Carlo and the Rally Croatia also in the WRC2 class. Now the Frenchman and Gryazin will work closely together with the DG Sport team to try to further progress the C3 Rally2 in view of the next season which will start in just under 2 months in Monte-Carlo.
Photo by: Helena El Mokni / Hyundai Motorsport
Nicolay Gryazin, Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 R5
“Joining the #C3Rally2Family is really a new chapter in my career. Being in a great environment around me, with a great team, is really important,” said newcomer Gryazin. “I’m really curious to see how the season will be. I’ve already tested the car and I felt very comfortable on the asphalt. The car is easy to drive for me, for my driving style, I have no doubts.”
“It’s good on dirt too, I just need to do some testing to find the best set-up for my driving style. Overall it feels really good. I really enjoyed testing this car, so I’m thrilled with the season that is about to begin.”
“My goal will be, obviously, to try to win all the races, and for sure it’s nice to have the whole Citroen Racing team, all their experience. In 2024, I think we will have to be smart, strategic and do our job as we do usually and definitely have fun driving, that’s the most important thing!”.
Yohan Rossel, now a veteran driver with Citroen Racing, added: “Once again, I am proud of the trust that the Stellantis Group has shown in me: next season it will be 10 years that I have been driving their cars! This respect goes to both directions: Loyalty and consistency are extremely important to me, so continuing with Citroen – the brand I have been driving since 2019 – makes complete sense.”
“The 2024 season will be another very intense season, but we will have the advantage of having Nikolay in our team. He is driving in many events and will be able to contribute to the development of the car on every surface, which was one of my wishes: we have I need someone like him who is committed to the kilometers. He’s also a fantastic person, so I’m very happy. The goal will be to work together and win.”
“I know that Citroën Racing is working very hard: we know our strengths and areas to improve. We are always close, but the championship is so competitive that even just finishing in the top three is a great result. We will do everything we can to try to become champions in 2024 and the objective is clear: fight for victory in every rally!”.
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