The 2021 WRC3 world champion Yohan Rossel from France has confirmed he will continue to drive for PH Sport in the upcoming 2023 FIA World Rally Championship in the WRC2 class behind the wheels of the same Citroen C3 Rally2 machine he has used for the success this year.
Rossel made his debut in the WRC2 class this year and he has secured three podium finish with two of them being victories in Rally Croatia and Rally de Portugal, followed by a second-place finish last time out in RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada.
The Frenchman also had two rallies to forget with the crash in Rally Italia Sardegna which took him out of a victory and the more roll in Acropolis Rally Greece where he also crashed out on the power stage when he was on route to secure another podium finish.
Rossel is currently sitting in fourth overall in the championship standings after his final rally of the season, he will not attend the season-finale of FORUM8 Rally Japan in November.
“I can confirm in 2023 we will be competing in the WRC2 again. We were in our absolute best form in Spain, we knew it would be very difficult to fight for the win. At the beginning of the rally, a puncture combined with not an exactly optimal setup penalized us, after that we found ourselves and could climb back up to second place. In the WRC2 you have to run perfectly from the first kilometers as we did in Croatia and Portugal.” Rossel said.
Didier Clément who is Customer Competition Manager at Stellantis (owner of Citroen) admits he is happy to have Rossel aboard for the upcoming season in the Citroen Racing backed team.
“For 2023 we would like to continue with Yohan Rossel. We regret not having been able to fight to the end for the world title but Rossel has proved he can be at the top fighting against the best drivers in the [WRC2] category. He has competed well, showing excellent results in his first season but also proved that he has the consistency and intelligence to fight for the title next year as well. At the moment the program is not evaluated, it will certainly include the rounds that he already knows well, perhaps adding a new rally in Europe.” Clément added.
