CITROEN CHASING DREAM LINE-UP OF OGIER, BREEN & LAPPI FOR 2019

It has been a hard time in the past couple of years for Citroen, a team that dominated the World Rally Championship thanks to some Frenchmen called Sebastian Loeb and Sebastian Ogier. Never really heard of them.

This year however hasn't been what the French manufacturer would call success, claiming two second place positions in Sweden and Finland thanks to Craig Breen and Mads Ostberg. The axing of No.1 driver Kris Meeke halfway through the season wouldn't have helped either, considering he was the only driver to win a rally with Citroen since the Loeb/Ogier era.

Currently the line-up is a little hazy, but one thing is for sure, Craig Breen and Mads Ostberg are currently upholding the team, just the two of them, compared to the three (or four in Hyundai's case) in the other teams. However Citroen are currently chasing what would be a world-class line-up for the 2019 season.

Citroen intent to keep Craig Breen, who is currently their de-facto No.1 driver.

Every year for the past three/four years Citroen have held talks with their former driver and five-time world champion Sebastian Ogier, and every time it is more smoke than fire. However this year is different.

Currently Ogier is on the backfoot in the title race, currently twenty-three points behind Thierry Neuville with just four rounds remaining.

The current rumour is that Ogier if Ogier loses the title to Neuville (or Tanak - 13 points behind Ogier), he will either retire from the sport or move to another team, most likely back to Citroen.

Finally Citroen have been holding talks with 27 year old hot-shot Finn Esapekka Lappi, who currently drives for Toyota. The 2017 Rally Finland winner has been looking around recently, but it has emerged that the talks are becoming very serious, with the Finn seriously considering a move to Citroen. Now what a line-up that would be.

What would all of this mean for the other drivers?

Well, for starters, Ostberg will probably be out of a seat. The Norweigan, having returned to the sport, will be a hot target, but I would think a move to M-Sport would suit him, although don't rule out Toyota, considering they would have one seat spare.

It would leave a seat empty at two of the biggest teams; M-Sport and Toyota. This could help Hyundai's situation. Currently the leading Constructor has four drivers, Paddon and Sordo sharing the third car.

The two drivers have performed brilliantly, evenly matched, and whoever Hyundai decide to boot out at the end of the season will have a great chance of a top-class seat. Currently I'm guessing Hayden Paddon will move to M-Sport.

Whether any of these talks materialise is another question, but now that the F1 gossip is wrapping up, it is time that the WRC driver-market begins to take the spotlight.