automotive

marzo 27, 2018 - Citroen Racing

Citroen C3 R5 - "WE STARTED FROM SCRATCH"

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale.

What were the specifications for the C3 R5?

Well, clearly, the idea was to start from scratch.
Obviously, the aim was for it to be reliable and fast,
especially given that the standard in the R5 class – which
was already high a year and a half ago when we began
development work – just keeps on going up as new competitors join the category.

What are the challenges posed by the R5 category?

There are many of them. First of all, there is very little room for manoeuvre (five upgrade tokens in the first 24 months, five others after) once the car has been homologated. It therefore has to be well designed from the outset. Similarly, in terms of the chassis and suspension systems, the number of potential interfaces is very limited. And yet we set ourselves the ambitious target of developing both the tarmac and gravel versions, opting for different designs. On tarmac, the front strut is angled towards the rear, whilst it leans forwards on gravel. We are the only manufacturer to have proceeded like this, and whilst it is fairly straightforward to do this in the WRC, it's a lot less easy in the R5 class! Lastly, as regards the engine, the restrictor/pop-off valve combination makes these machines particularly complicated: everyone has more or less the required power and torque on the engine test bench, but the differences then come at the rallies, when factors like altitude and temperature vary, as well as in all the transition phases. This is why we invested in a much more powerful ECU, involving considerably more fine-tuning, but which has delivered very good results.

How did development work go?

Although the overall timing left us very little room for error, everything went well. We started work on preliminary project drawings at the end of 2016, but we didn't really begin proper design work, based on the C3, until January 2017, the first road tests being held in September 2017. We haven't had any issues with any of the major components since then. Engine endurance tests were completed without incident and we now have what is beginning to feel like a reasonable number of testing miles under our belt. We have tested on pretty much all types of tarmac and have defined a good basic set-up. The same goes for gravel, where we have held sessions at a wide variety of test bases. We are now going to use this year to fine-tune our set-up at specific events such as Monte-Carlo, Sweden, Finland, Wales GB and Germany.

A lot of drivers were involved in testing: Stéphane Lefebvre and Yoann Bonato, as well as the likes of Craig Breen, Kris Meeke, Yohan Rossel, Paolo Andreucci and Simone Tempestini. What was the aim?

We believe that a fast, powerful #Rally car must also be versatile, especially when it comes to a customer #racing product. This is why we decided to use a small panel of drivers – so we could not only get a comprehensive view but also go quicker in understanding any areas that needed to be corrected on the car, by comparing several opinions.

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