ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The 2007 season was marked by the return of Citroën Sport to the world championship as well as Sébastien Loeb's return to the factory team with which he began his international career. It is also the beginning of a new era with the passage of witnesses between the Citroën Xsara WRC, now leased in customer mode to private structures, and the Citroën C4 WRC that succeeds it. Exclusively focused on his rally program, Loeb won a fourth world title, a performance previously performed by Finns only Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen, but failed with his team-mate Dani Sordo in the constructors race once again won by Ford. That year was finally the scene of his last arms passes with Marcus Grönholm, who later admitted, when he retired in turn, that he was the most gifted opponent he had to face.

World Rally Championship
A fresh start. These are the words of Citroën sports director Guy Fréquelin to qualify the French manufacturer's return to the WRC championship. Announced since the end of the 2005 season, this come-back allows to return to a number of three factory teams engaged in the world after the low point reached last year, but is also accomplished with the inauguration of a new car called Citroën C4 WRC : . After six years of international competition, the Citroën Xsara WRC, although no longer officially represented, is not retired and pursues a second career through customer-mode rentals to other private teams, including Kronos Racing. The Belgian structure, which hosted Sébastien Loeb in 2006 for a transitional season, perpetuates the saga while the Alsatian returns to his historical employer. The cost reduction policy undertaken by the AIF is also taking a new step with the obligation for the teams to use the same engine on three tests. The Super Rally rule also underwent some changes with the introduction of a minimum penalty of ten minutes in order to avoid the precedent created by Loeb during the Monte-Carlo 2006 rally that he had finished in the second final place despite his exit. The triple world champion will continue to have alongside him the young Spanish Dani Sordo, fifth of the previous championship for his first season in the queen category while having made a strong impression by his two second places acquired in the Catalan and Germanic asphalt rounds. The opposing forces in attendance remain the same last year with Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg, respectively signatories of the Ford and Subaru factory teams, among the most serious contenders.

Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo

Traditional opening of the world championship, the Monte-Carlo rally undergoes this year's changes sig