Citroën Junior Team
| Company type | Subsidiary team |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motorsport |
| Predecessor | Citroën Racing Technologies (CRT) |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Fate | Discontinued after 2012 season |
| Headquarters | France |
Area served | World Rally Championship |
| Products | Rally cars |
| Owner | Citroën Racing |
| Parent | Citroën Racing Technologies (CRT) |
| Website | www |
The Citroën Junior Team participated in the World Rally Championship across the 2009, 2010, and 2012 seasons. Created as a subsidiary outfit for the Citroën marque, its primary mission was to nurture emerging driving talent.
Functioning as the premier WRC squad for Citroën Racing's customer racing branch, Citroën Racing Technologies (CRT), which operated from 2007 until 2012, the team’s rally entries were prepared and managed by the independent firm PH Sport, consistent with all CRT-supported private teams.
Background
Before the establishment of the Junior Team, PH Sport along with Citroën Sport Technologies (which was renamed Citroën Racing Technologies in 2009) ran semi-privateer Citroën C4 WRC campaigns during the 2008 WRC season for drivers Conrad Rautenbach and Urmo Aava.
2009
Following the withdrawal of manufacturers Subaru and Suzuki, the Citroën Junior Team was launched, fielding Citroën C4 vehicles for drivers including Russian Evgeny Novikov, Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach, and Junior World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier. Australian Chris Atkinson stepped in for Novikov at the opening event of Rally Ireland, delivering a commendable drive but did not continue with the team. Furthermore, Petter Solberg was designated to earn manufacturer points at Rally GB, where he secured fourth place. Aaron Burkart also made his debut in a WRC car, finishing twelfth in his first rally.
2010
On 4 December 2009, former 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen was signed by the Junior Team to make his rally debut alongside co-driver Kaj Lindström. Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia competed in a second car representing the Junior Team.
Räikkönen and Lindström participated in twelve of the thirteen rounds during the 2010 WRC season, skipping only Rally New Zealand and withdrawing from Rally Catalunya following an accident before the event.
Ogier achieved the team’s most notable success by winning the 2010 Rally de Portugal. His consistent results earned him a promotion to the Citroën World Rally Team for gravel rallies including Finland, Japan, and Wales; concurrently, Dani Sordo joined the Junior Team for those specific events. Räikkönen’s best result was fifth place at the 2010 Rally of Turkey.
2011
With Ogier moving up to the main Citroën World Rally Team, the Junior Team name was discontinued. New WRC regulations permitted customers of Citroën Racing Technologies (CRT) to enter single-car teams independently. Drivers such as Petter Solberg, Peter van Merksteijn Jr., and Kimi Räikkönen competed using CRT-prepared cars managed by PH Sport.
2012
The Junior Team identity was revived when Thierry Neuville transitioned into the WRC after notable achievements in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with Peugeot BelLux. Neuville’s highest placement was fourth at Rally de France Alsace, finishing seventh overall in the championship standings that year.
2013–
Following the conclusion of 2012, Citroën Racing Technologies ceased operations as Citroën Racing redirected its efforts toward customer sales of DS3 Regional Rally Car variants (R5, R3T, R1) instead of World Rally Cars. Subsequently, no privateer outfits contested the WRC manufacturers' championship with Citroën World Rally Cars. An exception might be considered for the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team in 2016, which essentially functioned as a Citroën World Rally Team entry without official manufacturer status and was entered through PH Sport.
WRC Results
... [Table continues with similar formatting for subsequent years and drivers]| Year | Team | Vehicle | No | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | WDC Position | Points Scored | TC Position | TC Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | World Rally Team Estonia | Citroën C4 WRC | 15 | Template:Country data ESTTemplate:Namespace detect showall Urmo Aava | style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE 18 | MEX | ARG |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| JOR Ret |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ITA 8 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GRE 4 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| TUR Ret |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN 15 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GER 8 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL 5 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP Ret |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FRA 7 | JPN | GBR |
– !rowspan=4| – | |||||||||||||||||
| Conrad Rautenbach | Citroën Xsara WRC | 21 | Template:Country data ZWETemplate:Namespace detect showall Conrad Rautenbach | MON Ret |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE 16 |colspan=13| |
15th !rowspan=2| 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Citroën C4 WRC | 16 | MEX 15 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ARG 4 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| JOR 26 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA 13 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GRE 10 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"| TUR 8 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN 10 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GER 13 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NZL Ret |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP Ret |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA 14 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| JPN Ret |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Equipe de France FFSA | 17 | Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Sébastien Ogier | MON | SWE | MEX | ARG | JOR | ITA | GRE | TUR | FIN | GER | NZL | ESP | FRA | JPN | GBR 26 |
19th !1 | |||||
See also
- Citroën Racing
- Citroën World Rally Team
- Qatar World Rally Team
- ICE 1 Racing
- Petter Solberg World Rally Team
- Van Merksteijn Motorsport
- PH Sport