2004 Citroën Xsara WRC #3
Pilots: S. Loeb / D. Elena
Team: Citroën Total WRT
Race: 1st overall (WRC1 class) at the Monte Carlo Rally 2004
AUTOart - 60438 (diecast)
Published 09/06/24
Born in Haguenau, France, in 1974, Sébastien Loeb started his sports career as a gymnast (four-time Alsatian champion). Later on, in 1994, he started working as an electrical engineer. Soon after he turned his focus to cars and motorsports, particularly rally racing. He won his first amateur rally in 1997. The following year he entered the French Citroën Saxo Trophy series, winning the title in 1999. Loeb’s innate talent drew the attention of Guy Fréquelin, Citroën Sport’s team principal. Fréquelin signed him to compete in Citroën’s team for the 2001 Junior World Rally Championship. Of the championship’s six races, Loeb won five. In the Rally Sanremo Citroën assigned him to their main WRC team, where he finished second. With that, Citroën boosted him to the major leagues: in 2002 he raced in the Citroën Total World Rally Team.
When Loeb officially joined Citroën, their WRC rally team used the Xsara Kit Car. Introduced in 1998 for the French Rally Championship, the Kit Car was front-wheel drive. Since it did not have four-wheel drive, Citroën only entered it in the asphalt races of the WRC. In that element the Xsara Kit Car was very efficient because of its low weight. However, in 2000 FIA changed the rules, increasing the minimum weight of the cars. Consequently, losing its biggest advantage, the Kit Car would struggle against the 4WD cars. And of course, since it was only FWD, it naturally suffered in dirt and/or snow races. It became obvious to Citroën that they needed something new: the Xsara WRC. Still molded in the lines of the 1998 road-going Citroën Xsara Coupé, the Xsara WRC debuted in 2001. Though almost identical to the Xsara Kit Car, Citroën built the WRC from scratch.
To power the Xsara WRC Citroën chose PSA’s XU7JP4 engine, the same unit same used in the street Xsara. The XU7JP4 was a DOHC 16 valves 1998 cm³ inline-4 rated for only 81 kW (108 hp). However, for racing, Citroën added a turbo-charger, boosting the output to 228 kW (310 hp) with 570 Nm of torque. With an aluminum block and head, Citroën placed the engine transversely mounted at the front. The power was then sent to the ground through a six-speed sequential non synchronized X-Trac gearbox. The Xsara WRC had a full-time four-wheel drive, with electronically controlled differentials, splitting power 50/50. The chassis was a steel monocoque and the suspension used independent McPherson struts front and back. As per FIA’s rules, the Xsara WRC weighed the minimum 1230 kg.
Sébastien Loeb’s first race in a Xsara WRC was in 2001. On loan from the Junior WRC team, in the Sanremo Rally of 2001 he came in second. In 2002, now in the Citroën Total WRT WRC team, his first win was at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. In the following year he lost the WRC championship by just one point. Therefore, for 2004 he was the favorite, and did not disappoint. In the first race of the season, piloting the Xsara WRC #3, he won the Monte Carlo Rally. Five more victories followed, and he won the 2004 WRC Drivers’ Championship. In total, he would win the championship a record nine (!!!) times consecutively, retiring from full-time rallying in 2012. He eventually came back for a few races after that, earning a total of 80 rally wins to his name. It will be VERY hard to beat his record.
I doubt that we’ll ever see someone more successful than Loeb in the WRC. Sébastien Ogier, perhaps? He does have nine wins in Monte Carlo against Loeb’s eight… Nonetheless, I find it very hard to conceive that a dominant brand will come together with a dominant pilot in the same way as Citroën + Loeb. With that, Sébastien Loeb will always be the GOAT of the WRC. And to me, if I think of Loeb, I think of the Xsara. In fact, in the early 2000s I had a Xsara, and loved it. So, in other words, I needed a Xsara WRC in the W-143 Garage. And if you want one, you have two options: AUTOart or a shitty pw. Fortunately I found an AUTOart, and once again I’m sad that they left the 1:43 scale. Not as fancy as Spark, yet a great model.