31 Oct 12

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Not content with winning the FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers' crown for a fifth consecutive season this year, Citroen has unleashed another car to chase yet more success in the future.

French make Citroen has followed factory Ford team M-Sport’s lead by developing a Regional Rally Car, which is based on its all-conquering DS3 WRC.

The car, which can be used in the new-for-2013 WRC-2 world championship support series, plus the various FIA regional championships such as the European and Middle East contests, features smaller bumper air intakes and rear spoiler, while the engine has a 30-milimetre turbo restrictor compared to the 33-milimetre version used in the World Rally Car. This means a maximum power output of 275bhp, compared to the 300bhp put out by the DS3 WRC.

Meanwhile, the diameter of the brake discs for asphalt events is reduced from 355mm to 350mm, while the water-cooling system has been removed.

Belgian Pieter Tsjoen, an occasional WRC exponent, gave the car its competition on the final round of the European championship on Rallye International du Valais in Switzerland last weekend. He finished fourth after dropping some five minutes when he rolled on the second stage of the asphalt event in the south-west of the country.