Beschreibung
For sale in our forthcoming auction 'Retromobile the Official Sale', on 2 February 2024 :
Italian title
Chassis No VF7SA5FV8EW702267
Shell No 001
- First DS3 WRC produced, instigator of the 2011 and 2012 world champions
- Entrusted to drivers such as Usines Bugalsky, Sordo, Loeb, Ogier, Meeke during numerous test sessions
- Sold with its FIA Gold passport
- Ex-Monte Carlo Rally 2017
- The mother of all factory DS3
This car is exceptional as it was indeed the first DS3 WRC chassis manufactured by Citroen. It therefore represents a crucial milestone in the genesis of this future rallying queen who became double world champion. Citroen Racing was at the top during that period, with the arrival of the brilliant director Olivier Quesnel in 2008. This DS3 took part in numerous tests at the beginning of its career, in the hands of several official Citroen drivers. A document from the 21st June 2023, signed by director of Stellantis Motorsport Mr. Jean-Marc Finot, highlighted the list of drivers for these tests which began in December 2009 at Satory with Philippe Bugalsky and Daniel Sordo. Between January and July 2010, it was subject to several test sessions in Fontjoncouse, then near Malaga, near Umeo, in Ales and Sauve, in Freneuse and in Ardeche with Kris Meeke, Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, as well as Bugalsky and Sordo.
It took part in a historic demo in 2013 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the hands of Mikko Hirvonen and in a road show in Moscow.
This car contributed to the development of the DS3 WRC, entered in the World Rally Championship in 2011 and 2012 which enabled Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena to win 20 victories as well as both the driver and constructor world title two years in a row. It replaced the C4 WRC and complied with new FIA regulations, including a 4-cylinder 1, 598 cc turbo engine producing 325 hp and connected to a sequential gearbox.
As evidenced by its "gold" FIA Technical Passport, this car competed in several rallies in the Middle East in 2015 (Kuwait, Shiraz, Oman, Dubai) and in 2017, it took the start of the Monte Carlo Rally with Jourdan Serderidis at the wheel, one of the rare gentlemen drivers racing in various WRC cars, who won the WRC Trophy in a DS3 WRC.
From 2019 to 2023, this same DS3 was driven by Luca Pedersoli, a highly experienced Italian driver who had already raced with a DS3 in 2012 before switching to the Citroen C4 between 2013 and 2018. He participated in several rallies at the wheel of the DS3 in Italy, where he achieved a very honourable performance by winning several category events.
Today, this machine is faithful to its period factory configuration with its special equipment and state-of-the-art engine. In its official Citroen livery that it had in 2013 for the "Forest Rally Stage" of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it was driven by Mikko Hirvonen, it will naturally require a service if a rally participation is planned. As Shell No 1, this is a car which has an undeniable historical significance by the role it played in the development of the DS3, the best rally machine of the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
