The Citroën Xsara WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based on the Citroën Xsara road car. The car was introduced for the 2001 World Rally Championship season and has taken the first three of nine drivers' titles for Sébastien Loeb, as well as the manufacturers' title in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Competition history World Rally Championship

The Xsara World Rally Car, based on the road going Xsara hatchback but ultimately having very little resemblance to it under the skin, was one of the most successful cars ever to compete in the World Rally Championship. In 1999, the WRCs predecessor, the two wheel drive naturally aspirated Citroën Xsara Kit Car, won overall in Rallye Catalunya and Tour de Corse. This car was considered the best car in the class. The FIA decided to increase the minimum weight of the cars for the 2000 season, making the car un-competitive against World Rally Car machinery. In 2001, the Kit Cars category was discontinued and was replaced by the Super 1600 and Super 2000.

In 2002, the Citroën Xsara WRC was introduced at the 2002 Monte Carlo Rally, with French driver Sébastien Loeb losing out on victory after being penalized for an illegal tyre change. Loeb subsequently won the Rallye Deutschland.

In 2003, Citroën partook in their first full championship season, with Loeb joined by former champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. The Xsara was more competitive, winning four rallies, and both Loeb and Sainz went into the final round of the season, the Wales Rally GB, with a chance at winning the drivers title. After championship rival Richard Burns suffered a blackout and withdrew from the rally, and Sainz crashed out on day one, Citroën chose to prioritise winning the manufacturers' title, which they did by 15 points. Loeb finished the rally in second and lost the drivers title by one point to Petter Solberg. In 2004, Loeb won his first drivers championship and successfully defended his title in 2005, winning a record ten rallies in a single season.

Sébastien Loeb won 28 rallies with the car, three consecutive Driver's Championship titles from 2004 to 2006, and led Citroën to three consecutive Manufacturer's Championship titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In addition to Leob piloting the Xsara WRC, Jesús Puras, Carlos Sainz, and François Duval also won rallies in the Xsara during its time as the factory-supported rally car.

The car was replaced in 2007 by the Citroën C4 WRC, however the Xsara was still used by privateers. 2003 WRC World Champion Petter Solberg drove a 2006 spec Xsara for the majority of the 2009 season, under the banner of his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team.

Rallycross Kenneth Hansen won the FIA European Rallycross Championship every year from 2000 to 2005 in the Xsara.

In September 2014, French based Lebanese businessman Nabil Karam entered the 2014 World RX of France with an Xsara, finishing 34th out of 37 entrants after the qualifying heats, and failing to qualify for the semi-finals. Having upgraded to a DS3 for the edition of 2015, this was the only time an Xsara appeared in an FIA World Rallycross Championship event.

WRC victories  #  Event Season Driver Co-driver 1 2001 Tour de Corse Jesús Puras Marc Martí 2 2002 Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 3 2003 Monte Carlo Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 4 2003 Rally of Turkey Carlos Sainz Marc Martí 5 2003 Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 6 2003 Rallye Sanremo Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 7 2004 Monte Carlo Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 8 2004 Swedish Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 9 2004 Cyprus Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 10 2004 Rally of Turkey Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 11 2004 Rally Argentina Carlos Sainz Marc Martí 12 2004 Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 13 2004 Rally Australia Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 14 2005 Monte Carlo Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 15 2005 Rally New Zealand Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 16 2005 Rally d'Italia Sardegna Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 17 2005 Cyprus Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 18 2005 Rally of Turkey Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 19 2005 Acropolis Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 20 2005 Rally Argentina Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 21 2005 Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 22 2005 Tour de Corse Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 23 2005 Rally Catalunya Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 24 2005 Rally Australia François Duval Sven Smeets 25 2006 Rally Mexico Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 26 2006 Rally Catalunya Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 27 2006 Tour de Corse Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 28 2006 Rally Argentina Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 29 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 30 2006 Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 31 2006 Rally Japan Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena 32 2006 Cyprus Rally Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena

WRC results Year Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points WMC PointsCitroën World Rally Team 2001 Philippe Bugalski MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP GRC KEN FIN NZL ITA FRA AUS GBR 22nd 1 – – Jesús Puras MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP ITA FRA AUS GBR 11th 10 Thomas Rådström GRC KEN FIN NZL 15th 6 Sébastien Loeb MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP GRC KEN FIN NZL ITA FRA AUS GBR 14th 6 2002 Thomas Rådström MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN NZL AUS GBR 12th 4 – – Jesús Puras GER ITA 19th 1 Sébastien Loeb MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN GER ITA NZL AUS GBR 10th 18 Philippe Bugalski MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN GER ITA NZL AUS GBR 11th 7 Jesús Puras MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN NZL AUS GBR 19th 1 2003 Colin McRae MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR 7th 45 1st 160 Sébastien Loeb MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRE CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR 2nd 71 Carlos Sainz MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR 3rd 63 Philippe Bugalski MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR 23rd 1 2004 Sébastien Loeb MON SWE MEX NZL CYP GRE TUR ARG FIN GER JPN GBR ITA FRA ESP AUS 1st 118 1st 194 Carlos Sainz MON SWE MEX NZL CYP GRC TUR ARG FIN GER JPN GBR ITA FRA ESP AUS 4th 73 2005 Sébastien Loeb MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS 1st 127 1st 188 François Duval MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS 6th 47 Carlos Sainz TUR GRC 13th 11Kronos Citroën World Rally Team 2006 Sébastien Loeb MON2 SWE2 MEX1 ESP1 FRA1 ARG1 ITA1 GRE2 DEU1 FIN2 JPN1 CYP1 1st 112 2nd 166 Colin McRae TURRet – 0 Xavier Pons MON9 SWE7 MEXRet ESPRet FRA6 ARG17 ITA4 GRE8 DEU14 FINRet JPNDNS CYP7 TUR4 AUS4 NZL4 GBR5 7th 32 Dani Sordo MON8 SWE16 MEX4 ESP2 FRA3 ARG5 ITA3 GRE6 DEU2 FINRet JPNDSQ CYPRet TUR7 AUS23 NZL5 GBR7 5th 49Petter Solberg World Rally Team 2009 Petter Solberg IRL NOR6 CYP3 POR4 ARGRet ITA3 GRCRet POL4 FINRet AUS ESP GBR 5th 35 – – 2010 Yvan Muller SWE MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN GER JPN FRA42 ESP GBR – 0 – –

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