Sébastien Loeb, and Mikko Hirvonen to contest the 2012 Work Rally Championship, which kicks off with the legendary Monte Carlo Rally on 17 January 2012, with Al-Attiyah starting his season in the second round in Sweden on 9 February.
Citroen are testing for the Monte Carlo, which is returning to the WRC for the first time since 2008, and video of the test sessions is available on YouTube athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FRfqZrXf0Q&feature=player_embedded
The Qatari driver will be at the wheel of a Citroën DS3 WRC identical to those of Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen and he will be partnered by Giovanni Bernacchini in the navigator’s seat.
Nasser Al-Attiyah, winner of the 2011 Dakar, is no stranger to the WRC. The Qatari has raced in 46 rounds since 2004, and in 2006 he won the P-WRC title for production cars so he has considerable rallying experience, which he hopes to put to good use with Citroën Racing. Nasser Al-Attiyah has just won his seventh FIA Middle East Rally Championship title. Nassar, who is also a distinguished sportsman, will make his debut in Rally Sweden after defending his Dakar title.
In addition, he will represent his country in the 2012 London Olympic Games in clay pigeon shooting.
Olivier Quesnel, Citroën Racing Team Principal: “We’re pleased to announce the arrival of Nasser Al-Attiyah at Citroën Racing. He’s a complete all-round driver who already has considerable experience as proved by his impressive results. We’re delighted that he’s chosen our team to make his debut in a World Rally Car, and we’re determined to put all our support behind him to help him move up to the top level.”
Nasser Al-Attiyah: “I’m very happy to fulfill what have been both a dream and a sporting objective. We’ve done a lot of work on this project in the past few months and I’d like to thank Raouf Menhem for his involvement alongside me. I can’t wait to get to know the team better and to test the DS3 WRC. It’s still a bit early to fix myself objectives as I’m counting on acquiring experience not only with the engineering squad, but also with drivers as talented as Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen. I think I’ll be able to score good results in the toughest rallies like Greece, for example. I also feel it’s a very positive step that the WRC is being opened up to longer events. The experience I’ve gained in the Dakar will certainly be very useful as endurance skills are of supreme importance in these rallies.”