Citroen Racing confirmed today that Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin will drive the C3 Rally2 next year meaning that Alejandro Cachon lost his place over the last one.
Yohan Rossel extended further his contract with the French team after their multi-year partnership and totally has won six championships with Citroen in his rallying career including a WRC3 title in 2021. On the other hand, Gryazin secured a full WRC2 campaign with Toksport and Skoda Motorsport from 2022 to 2023, but he is set to participate at Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy with a C3 Rally2 this week before Citroen's official announcement which came earlier today. Both of them have won rounds in WRC2 class, but never a championship, while Citroen's intention is to get more competitive on the next year's championship as the competition is growing after Toyota's entry. Totally, we expect to have Rally2 cars from six different manufacturers (Skoda, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, Toyota and Citroen).
"Joining the C3 Rally2 Family is really a new chapter in my career", Gryazin said.
"Being in a great environment around me with a great team, it's really important.
"I'm really curious to see how the season will be.
"I already tested the car, and on the tarmac, I felt really nice.
"The car is easy to drive for me, for my driving style, I have no doubts.
"For the gravel it’s also good, just need to spend some test dates to find the best setup for my driving style.
"Overall it feels also really good.
"I really enjoyed when I was doing the test on this car so I'm excited for this season to come.
"My target will be, of course, to try to win all the races, and for sure it is nice to have all the team from Citroen Racing, all their expertise.
"In 2024, I think we will have to be smart, strategic and do our job as we usually do and for sure to enjoy the driving, this is the most important!".
Finally, Rossel stated: "Once more, I feel so proud of the confidence 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 both ways: loyalty and consistency are extremely important for me, so to carry on with Citroen – the make I have been driving since 2019 – is entirely logical.
"The 2024 season will be another very intense one, but we will have the benefit of Nikolay in our team.
"He is driving on a lot of events and will be able to help develop the car on every surface, which was one of my wishes: we need someone like him who puts in the kilometres.
"He’s a great person too, so I’m really happy. The goal will be for us to work together and win.
"I know that Citroën Racing is working very hard: we know our strong points as well as the areas we have to improve.
"We're close every time but the championship is so competitive that just finishing in the top three is a great achievement.
"We’re going to do everything we can to try to be champions in 2024 and the objective is clear: to fight for the win on every rally!".
Photo Credits: Citroen Racing
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