WTCC PREVIEW
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78
Testing has given
the Frenchman
his mojo back
“It’s normal with a driver, even more when he’s
in the same team, it creates some tension.
“We all know each other, we all know who can
do what, and who you can’t do things with. It’s
good to know that and it creates some respect.”
Muller admits to being not at the top of his
game throughout 2014. He did not adapt as
quickly as he could have done to a revised WTCC
technical package that introduced a number of
variables: more power; lower, lighter, wider cars;
bigger wheels (from 17in to 18in); the freedom to
run MacPherson-strut s uspension all round; and
new aero including flat-bottomed chassis and
high-level rear wings.
Citroen did its part by designing the C-Elysee
to the new regulations – actually committing
before the World Motor Sport Council ratified
the changes – while rivals had to modify existing
S2000 machinery, or, in the case of Honda, rush
development and arrive with a sub-optimal car.
But while Lopez and circuit-racing newcomer
Sebastien Loeb were able to explore the
C-Elysee’s theoretical performance in the
simulator, Muller – like Michael Schumacher
in the Mercedes simulator – found the
contraption gave him motion sickness. At
world championship level small differences
can have a significant effect on results.
“Over this last winter I’ve been more focused to
work on my own team, to prepare everything, to
be a bit more free during the season,” says Muller.
“One of the things I did more in the winter was to
work more on the simulator, because that was one
of my negative points last year. I was not able to
do it because I was sick.
“So now it’s getting better. It’s not perfect but
it’s better, and that was a disadvantage for me, I
Closer interaction with
his team will help him,
Muller claims
‘‘Everyone says Citroen
won too easily, but it
was not easy, because
to arrive at this level,
that meant we had
to work hard’’YVAN MULLER
ALL PICS: DPPI
Ma, Loeb, Muller and
Lopez are the quartet
rivals are aiming for
78 AUTOSPORT.COM MARCH 5 2015
WorldMags.net
think, last season. Plus I was a bit unlucky as well;
in Marrakech we crashed at the start and I lost 30
points; Salzburg some guy pushed me off; Japan I
had a puncture. So all this cost me a lot of points.
But still I was not on my best level. I was focused
– I am focused to be on my best level during 2015.”
That ‘some guy’ who pushed him off at the
Salzburgring was actually team-mate Lopez, who
edged him on to the grass off the start, leaving
him to become the collateral when the Ladas of
Rob Huff and James Thompson got caught up
with one another. Many observers feel that was
the point where Lopez asserted himself as the
alpha male of the Citroen clan – and from
then on Muller was, if not defeated outright,
then certainly wounded.
This season represents an opportunity for
Muller to reassert himself, assuming Citroen
retains its position of dominance, but that is by
no means a given. Honda has put its Civic through
an intensive programme of development to find
more power and improve the chassis, and is
currently assessing which combination will be
most effective given the WTCC’s tight rules on
changing homologated parts. Since Citroen and
Honda have only run a limited number of laps on
track at the same time, at the sparsely attended
official test at Barcelona, it’s impossible to divine
with any accuracy how much performance Honda
has found – or will find. And the form of the
ORECA-developed Lada Vesta is a complete
unknown since it has been tested exclusively
in private, at Magny-Cours.
Asking Muller how important he thinks Honda
will be to the intra-Citroen battle causes him
to bristle somewhat.
“I’ve no idea,” he says. “Everybody I’ve talked to
has said, ‘Yeah, Citroen gained the championship