- Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot to compete for the Qatar World Rally Team at Rally Finland
- Nasser Al Attiyah to miss the rally due to Olympic Games commitments
- Rally Finland is a flagship event of the WRC
Following the short summer break, the Citroën Racing team returns to action for round eight of the World Rally Championship at one of the quickest events in world rallying. The team will be joined by a new crew as Chris Atkinson and his co-driver Stéphane Prévot have chosen to tackle the untamed roads of Finland in a Citroën DS3 WRC. They will be able to enjoy the expertise and support of Citroën Racing Technologies as they compete for the Qatar World Rally Team.
A major absentee from Rally New Zealand, unfortunately Nasser Al Attiyah will also be unable to take part in RallyFinland. Due to his Olympic Games’ commitments, the Qatari will miss out on driving on the 303-kilometres of timed stages that make up the most prestigious event in world rallying.
“Ever since Chris Atkinson took part in the 2009 Rally Ireland in a C4 WRC, we have kept in touch and maintained good relations with him,” revealed Benoit Nogier, Head of Citroën Racing Technologies. “As Nasser’s Citroën DS3WRC was available for this rally, we offered Chris the chance to lease the car and compete for the Qatar World RallyTeam. We are therefore very pleased to have him back with us in one of our Customer Racing teams for one of the championship’s flagship events.”
After twice winning the Asia Pacific Championship (Super 1600 class), in 2003 and 2004, the Australian driver then went on to compete as a works driver in the WRC. He achieved some strong results throughout the four years he took part in the championship. An experienced and very quick driver on gravel, Chris will be a formidable rival for the rest of the WRC field in Finland.
“We are really looking forward to racing with the Qatar World Rally Team,” enthused Chris Atkinson. “Competing in the best rally in the World Rally Championship is a superb opportunity and I can’t wait to test the car to share my feeling for it with the team and give them my initial feedback. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we have got everything it takes to go after a good result here.”
