Citroen Plan Privateer Superteam
Citroen are working on creating a privateer superteam for world champion Sebastien Loeb and former champion Marcus Gronholm next season, according to a report in this week's Autosport
The French car manufacturer are withdrawing from the World Rally Championship at the end of this year, prior to a possible return in 2007, and have been working on plans to keep a team entry during their sabbatical.
Autosport reports that backing for the project could come from Sony PlayStation and tobacco giant Philip Morris, with privateer teams Kronos Racing and Oreca linked with running the cars.
Although Gronholm refused to be drawn on the possibility of the privateer entry, Loeb told Autosport that his future plans had still not been decided.
"It's not true that I have signed," said Loeb. "I cannot, because Citroen can't tell me anything until they make the decision about whether they will come back in 2007. They make that decision at the end of the month. I decide then, but yet, my first choice is to stay in a Citroen next season."
Should Citroen's plans come off, then it could have major implications for the sport - with rivals believed to be concerned about the impact such a team would have on their rivals, especially because under new WRC regulations the outfit would be eligible for manufacturer points.
Mitsubishi's Isao Torii said: "I think it could kill the other manufacturers. It would be very dangerous. These teams would completely disturb the way points are scored by the real manufacturers."
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