Citroën has had a small celebration of its nine FIA World Rally Championship title, but reality has come back to bite.
The rally Diorama Image: Citroen |
The French carmaker has created a tiny 1:43-scale model diorama (a 3D panorama) a which has been moulded to a life-sized Citroën DS3, the same model used by Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena to clinch their ninth title.
The model was revealed in London at the UK's auto industry trade body - the Society of Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) - before being taken on a UK-wide dealership tour.
The model is cleverly divided into nine different parts, each featuring a different rally stage of WRC events dating back to 2004 and including Loeb's first Citroën rally car - the Xsara.
Unfortunately, current reality is not so positive after Loeb was beaten in this year's FIA Rally Sweden by by Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in the Volkswagen Polo's debut season. This was only the second competitive outing for the 315-hp Polo R WRC and only the second win by a central European on the rally since 1950 - an event which has been almost exclusively won by Scandinavian drivers.
The Rally Sweden is the only rally to be held exclusively on ice and snow, with the teams using special studded tyres and the winter specifications - which includes specially formulated Castrol engine, gearbox and differential oils in the VWs.
This was the first appearance of a 'Power Stage' which Ogier won, allowing him to move ahead of Loeb in the overall WRC standings, to lead the Drivers’ Championship by just three points.
Meanwhile, on a much longer stage (10,300 miles - or 16,500km - to be exact Philip Young and Paul Brace broke the world record for driving non-stop from Cape Town to London in a Fiat Panda. Passing through 13 countries and two continents, the pair drove for 10 days, 13 hours and 28 minutes, raising money for the charity Farm Africa.