The Citroën Junior Team aims high
The line-up of Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt and Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia will defend the honours of the Citroën Junior Team on the Rally Argentina, at the wheel of their familiar Citroën C4 WRCs. This first rally of the season held outside of Europe is set to be a real endurance test for the entire team.

The World Rally Championship now crosses the Atlantic for the only South American round of the 2009 calendar. The Citroën crews will be greeted with a warm welcome like no other when they make the trip to Rally Argentina, based close to Cordoba.

Villa Carlos Paz, which is home to Rally Headquarters, is located in the Punilla Valley, where the first and the third days of the event will take place. On Saturday, the rally will visit the Traslasierra region with the legendary El Mirador-San Lorenzo, Mina Clavero-Giulio Cesare and El Condor-Copina stages: true icons of the World Rally Championship that soar to more than 2140 metres in altitude. Unlike last year’s event, the rally will get underway on Thursday 23 April with a new spectator superspecial stage held in Cordoba Stadium.

By the side of the stages, there is an unmissable atmosphere. Hundreds of thousands of fans enthusiastically line the route to see their heroes in action; a well-known hallmark of the Rally Argentina.

This event is also where Conrad Rautenbach will return to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs. In 2008, the Zimbabwean claimed a brilliant fourth place despite atrocious driving conditions. « That was incredible result for only my second rally with the Citroën C4 WRC » said Conrad. « The conditions were really terrible, due to heavy rain. Nonetheless we managed to overcome all the obstacles to finish fourth: my best result on the World Rally Championship. There really is a unique atmosphere on the Rally Argentina. Even in the rain, there were so many spectators there. They light barbecues and really enjoy themselves following the rally for the whole day. It’s a great event, but I’m just hoping that it doesn’t rain again this year! »

For the first time, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will be nominated to score manufacturer points for the Citroën Junior Team. « I had my first taste of Argentina last year, when I came over to do the recce » commented Sébastien. « The stages are really good and extremely varied. This is the sort of rally where accurate pace notes will be absolutely vital. The fact that I am nominated for points will not change my approach at all though. My objective will be to get to the finish without making mistakes in order to show that I can be consistent. »

Olivier Quesnel, Citroën Sport’s team principal, concluded: « Having already amply demonstrated their speed, our drivers will now have to display their consistency and resilience. Getting to the finish has to be the primary objective for all our crews. »

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