# Citroën Xsara WRC

The Citroën Xsara WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based on the Citroën Xsara road car. The car was introduced for the 2001 World Rally Championship season and has taken the first three of nine drivers' titles for Sébastien Loeb, as well as the manufacturers' title in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

## Competition history
### World Rally Championship

The Xsara World Rally Car, based on the road going Xsara hatchback but ultimately having very little resemblance to it under the skin, was one of the most successful cars ever to compete in the World Rally Championship. In 1999, the WRCs predecessor, the two wheel drive naturally aspirated Xsara Kit Car, won overall in Rallye Catalunya and Tour de Corse.
This car was considered the best car in the class. The late Philippe Bugalski placed seventh overall and won the Kit Car F2 class.
In 2001, the Kit Cars category disappeared and was replaced by the Super 1600 and Super 2000. Citroën Xsara competed in the category of World Rally Car. In 2002, French driver Sébastien Loeb was supposed to win the Monte Carlo Rally but he was penalized for an illegal tyre change, but he later won the Deutschland Rally.
In 2003, Citroën partook their first full championship season, with Loeb joined by former champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. The Xsara was more competitive, winning four rallies, and both Loeb and Sainz went into the final round of the season, the Wales Rally GB, with a chance at winning the drivers title. After championship rival Richard Burns suffered a blackout and withdrew from the rally, and Sainz crashed out on day one, Citroën chose to prioritise winning the manufacturers' title, which they did by 15 points. Loeb finished the rally in second and lost the drivers title by one point to Petter Solberg. In 2004, Loeb won his first drivers championship and successfully defended his title in 2005, winning a record ten rallies in a single season.
Sébastien Loeb won 28 rallies with the car, three consecutive Driver's Championship titles from 2004 to 2006, and Citroën to three consecutive Manufacturer's Championship titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In addition to Leob piloting the Xsara WRC, Jesús Puras, Carlos Sainz, and François Duval have also driven it to win since its 2001 conception.
The car was replaced in 2007 by the Citroën C4 WRC, however the Xsara was still used by privateers and others. World champion of 2003, Petter Solberg drove a 2006 spec Xsara for the majority of the season of 2009, which was entered by his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team.

### Rallycross

Kenneth Hansen won the FIA European Rallycross Championship every year from 2000 to 2005.
In September 2014, French based Lebanese businessman Nabil Karam entered the 2014 World RX of France with an Xsara, finishing 34th out of 37 entrants after the qualifying heats, and failing to qualify for the semi-finals. Having upgraded to a DS3 for the edition of 2015, this is the only time an Xsara has been used in a FIA World Rallycross Championship event.

## WRC victories

| # | Event | Season | Driver | Co-driver |
| 1 | 2001 Tour de Corse | 2001 | Jesús Puras | Marc Martí |
| 2 | 2002 Rallye Deutschland | 2002 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 3 | 2003 Monte Carlo Rally | 2003 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 4 | 2003 Rally of Turkey | 2003 | Carlos Sainz | Marc Martí |
| 5 | 2003 Rallye Deutschland | 2003 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 6 | 2003 Rallye Sanremo | 2003 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 7 | 2004 Monte Carlo Rally | 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 8 | 2004 Swedish Rally | 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 9 | 2004 Cyprus Rally | 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 10 | 2004 Rally of Turkey | 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 11 | 2004 Rally Argentina | 2004 | Carlos Sainz | Marc Martí |
| 12 | 2004 Rallye Deutschland | 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 13 | 2004 Rally Australia | 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 14 | 2005 Monte Carlo Rally | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 15 | 2005 Rally New Zealand | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 16 | 2005 Rally d'Italia Sardegna | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 17 | 2005 Cyprus Rally | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 18 | 2005 Rally of Turkey | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 19 | 2005 Acropolis Rally | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 20 | 2005 Rally Argentina | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 21 | 2005 Rallye Deutschland | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 22 | 2005 Tour de Corse | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 23 | 2005 Rally Catalunya | 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 24 | 2005 Rally Australia | 2005 | François Duval | Sven Smeets |
| 25 | 2006 Rally Mexico | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 26 | 2006 Rally Catalunya | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 27 | 2006 Tour de Corse | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 28 | 2006 Rally Argentina | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 29 | 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 30 | 2006 Rallye Deutschland | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 31 | 2006 Rally Japan | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |
| 32 | 2006 Cyprus Rally | 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena |

## WRC results

| Year | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points | WMC | Points |
| Citroën World Rally Team ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Philippe Bugalski | MON | SWE | POR | ESP 8 | ARG | CYP | GRC 6 | KEN | FIN | NZL | ITA Ret | FRA Ret | AUS | GBR | | | 22nd | 1 | – | – |
| 2001 | Jesús Puras | MON | SWE | POR | ESP Ret | ARG | CYP | | | | | ITA Ret | FRA 1 | AUS | GBR | | | 11th | 10 | – | – |
| 2001 | Thomas Rådström | | | | | | | GRC Ret | KEN | FIN | NZL | | | | | | | 15th | 6 | – | – |
| 2001 | Sébastien Loeb | MON | SWE | POR | ESP | ARG | CYP | GRC | KEN | FIN | NZL | ITA 2 | FRA | AUS | GBR | | | 14th | 6 | – | – |
| 2002 | Thomas Rådström | MON Ret | SWE 37 | FRA | ESP Ret | CYP | ARG | GRE 8 | KEN 3 | FIN Ret | | | NZL | AUS | GBR Ret | | | 12th | 4 | – | – |
| 2002 | Jesús Puras | | | | | | | | | | GER Ret | ITA 6 | | | | | | 19th | 1 | – | – |
| 2002 | Sébastien Loeb | MON 2 | SWE 17 | FRA | ESP Ret | CYP | ARG | GRE 7 | KEN 5 | FIN 10 | GER 1 | ITA | NZL | AUS 7 | GBR Ret | | | 10th | 18 | – | – |
| 2002 | Philippe Bugalski | MON Ret | SWE | FRA 4 | ESP 3 | CYP | ARG | GRE | KEN | FIN | GER Ret | ITA Ret | NZL | AUS | GBR | | | 11th | 7 | – | – |
| 2002 | Jesús Puras | MON | SWE | FRA | ESP 12 | CYP | ARG | GRE | KEN | FIN | | | NZL | AUS | GBR | | | 19th | 1 | – | – |
| 2003 | Colin McRae | MON 2 | SWE 5 | TUR 4 | NZL Ret | ARG Ret | GRC 8 | CYP 4 | GER 4 | FIN Ret | AUS 4 | ITA 6 | FRA 5 | ESP 9 | GBR 4 | | | 7th | 45 | 1st | 160 |
| 2003 | Sébastien Loeb | MON 1 | SWE 7 | TUR Ret | NZL 4 | ARG Ret | GRE Ret | CYP 3 | GER 1 | FIN 5 | AUS 2 | ITA 1 | FRA 13 | ESP 2 | GBR 2 | | | 2nd | 71 | 1st | 160 |
| 2003 | Carlos Sainz | MON 3 | SWE 9 | TUR 1 | NZL 12 | ARG 2 | GRC 2 | CYP 5 | GER 6 | FIN 4 | AUS 5 | ITA 4 | FRA 2 | ESP 7 | GBR Ret | | | 3rd | 63 | 1st | 160 |
| 2003 | Philippe Bugalski | MON | SWE | TUR | NZL | ARG | GRC | CYP | GER Ret | FIN | AUS | ITA 8 | FRA 9 | ESP 10 | GBR | | | 23rd | 1 | 1st | 160 |
| 2004 | Sébastien Loeb | MON 1 | SWE 1 | MEX Ret | NZL 4 | CYP 1 | GRE 2 | TUR 1 | ARG 2 | FIN 4 | GER 1 | JPN 2 | GBR 2 | ITA 2 | FRA 2 | ESP Ret | AUS 1 | 1st | 118 | 1st | 194 |
| 2004 | Carlos Sainz | MON Ret | SWE 5 | MEX 3 | NZL 6 | CYP 3 | GRC 19 | TUR 4 | ARG 1 | FIN 3 | GER 3 | JPN 5 | GBR 4 | ITA 3 | FRA 3 | ESP 3 | AUS WD | 4th | 73 | 1st | 194 |
| 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | MON 1 | SWE Ret | MEX 4 | NZL 1 | ITA 1 | CYP 1 | TUR 1 | GRE 1 | ARG 1 | FIN 2 | GER 1 | GBR 3 | JPN 2 | FRA 1 | ESP 1 | AUS Ret | 1st | 127 | 1st | 188 |
| 2005 | François Duval | MON Ret | SWE 12 | MEX Ret | NZL 4 | ITA 11 | CYP Ret | | | ARG 7 | FIN 8 | GER 2 | GBR 2 | JPN 4 | FRA Ret | ESP 2 | AUS 1 | 6th | 47 | 1st | 188 |
| 2005 | Carlos Sainz | | | | | | | TUR 4 | GRC 3 | | | | | | | | | 13th | 11 | 1st | 188 |
| Kronos Citroën World Rally Team ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | MON 2 | SWE 2 | MEX 1 | ESP 1 | FRA 1 | ARG 1 | ITA 1 | GRE 2 | DEU 1 | FIN 2 | JPN 1 | CYP 1 | | | | | 1st | 112 | 2nd | 166 |
| 2006 | Colin McRae | | | | | | | | | | | | | TUR Ret | | | | – | 0 | 2nd | 166 |
| 2006 | Xavier Pons | MON 9 | SWE 7 | MEX Ret | ESP Ret | FRA 6 | ARG 17 | ITA 4 | GRE 8 | DEU 14 | FIN Ret | JPN DNS | CYP 7 | TUR 4 | AUS 4 | NZL 4 | GBR 5 | 7th | 32 | 2nd | 166 |
| 2006 | Dani Sordo | MON 8 | SWE 16 | MEX 4 | ESP 2 | FRA 3 | ARG 5 | ITA 3 | GRE 6 | DEU 2 | FIN Ret | JPN DSQ | CYP Ret | TUR 7 | AUS 23 | NZL 5 | GBR 7 | 5th | 49 | 2nd | 166 |
| Petter Solberg World Rally Team ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Petter Solberg | IRL | NOR 6 | CYP 3 | POR 4 | ARG Ret | ITA 3 | GRC Ret | POL 4 | FIN Ret | AUS | ESP | GBR | | | | | 5th | 35 | – | – |
| 2010 | Yvan Muller | SWE | MEX | JOR | TUR | NZL | POR | BUL | FIN | GER | JPN | FRA 42 | ESP | GBR | | | | – | 0 | – | – |