Chris Atkinson to drive a Citroen DS3 in Rally Finland
Chris Atkinson will return to a Citroen World Rally Car for the first time since 2009 when he tackles next month's Rally Finland in a DS3 WRC
The Australian will drive Nasser Al-Attiyah's Qatar World Rally Team car, as the Qatari will be busy competing at the London Olympics.
Atkinson is no stranger to Citroen, having tackled the opening round of the 2009 WRC, Rally Ireland, in a C4 WRC.
He finished fifth on his debut with the French team, collecting the Spirit of the Rally award.
"We are really looking forward to racing with the Qatar World Rally Team," said Atkinson. "Competing in the best rally in the Championship in the best WRC 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."
Citroen Racing Technologies boss Benoit Nogier added: "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.
"As Nasser's Citroen DS3 WRC was available for this rally, we offered Chris the chance to lease the car and compete for the Qatar World Rally Team. 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."
The Jyvaskyla event, running from August 2-4, will be Atkinson's second WRC outing of the season. He tackled Rally Mexico with the Monster World Rally Team, retiring with suspension trouble after setting the team's first ever fastest time at WRC level.
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| Series | WRC |
| Author | David Evans |
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