After over six months of development work, Citroen Racing have finally homologated the R5 version of their C3 competition car.
This is the sixth model to be approved for this formula, with Citroen being the first manufacturer to have a second R5 car.
As announced in September by Pierre Budar, then the Development Director of Citroen Racing’s Customer Racing Vehicles, and now the company’s Competition Director, the C3 R5 is a stand-alone design, unlike the earlier DS3 R3 which was a clone of the Peugeot 208 T16.
It has a new engine base, again with much longer stroke dimensions than R5 cars from other companies, and has a new transmission design, this time from Sadev instead of 3MO, and suspension from Reiger instead of Ohlins.
It has a long body length, with only the Hyundai being longer, and a long wheelbase similar to that of Hyundai.
The R5 project manager is now Francois Wales, Budar’s replacement.
An unusual characteristic is the angles of the struts. The front struts are angled towards the rear for asphalt, and to the front for gravel.
Drivers engaged in development testing have been Stephane Lefebvre, Yoann Bonato, Craig Breen, Kris Meeke, Paulo Andreucci and Simone Tempestini.
Led by Olivier Maroselli, the engineer recently behind the original R4-Kit work at Oreca and the Toyota Etios car, 20 engineers have worked on the project.
There have been 6000 kilometres of testing in France and Spain.
Citroen state they already have 20 confirmed orders for the C3 R5.
Stephane Lefebvre has been heavily involved in the development of the C3 R5.
From the Tour de Corse onwards, PH Sport will run Lefebvre’s car as part of the Citroën Racing works programme in WRC2.
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It has a new engine base, again with much longer stroke dimensions than R5 cars from other companies, and has a new transmission design, this time from Sadev instead of 3MO, and suspension from Reiger instead of Ohlins.
