Citroen team boss praises ‘emphatic’ win

Citroen Total team principal Olivier Quesnel has paid tribute to his drivers Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena following their victory on today’s Rallye de France-Tour de Corse.

Citroen's Managing Director Gilles Michel joined Quesnel in the Ajaccio service park to help celebrate the four-time World Champions' tenth win of the season which takes Loeb a step closer to a possible fifth consecutive world title.

"Victories rarely get more emphatic than this," said Quesnel. "Our cars have always gone well in Corsica and this year again we were able to dominate from start to finish thanks to the excellent work of everyone in the team. There was little suspense, but it was still a very stressful three days because anything can always happen! But Seb and Daniel put in a
perfect run, scoring 14 fastest stage times from 16! What a performance! Today's result takes them further clear at the top of the drivers' standings and Citroen hasn't dropped many points in the manufacturers' championship.”

Loeb’s lead in the series could have been three points more secure had it not been for some tactical shuffling by the Ford team to move Mikko Hirvonen to second.

Quesnel has been a fierce opponent of tactics like this in the past but refused to say much in Corsica today. “I think [Ford team principal] Malcolm Wilson was quite good at maths at school!” said Quesnel. “But this is rally. It’s not our problem. We make our own ways and Ford do what they have to do, but we have nothing to say about it.”