Thanks to his Junior-WRC victory at first attempt in a PH’Sport-prepared Citroën, Stéphane Lefebvre, 22, is perhaps poised to follow in the footsteps of Sébastien Loeb (2001 Junior champ) and Sébastien Ogier (2008).
For 2015, Citroën Racing has offered the French youngster a mouth-watering programme of six WRC-2 appearances in a DS3 R5/Michelin, plus two world class rallies (not yet specified) in a DS3 WRC/Michelin.
“I had given myself two years to win the FIA Junior WRC,” he says. “I knew it would be a major challenge to get to grips with the world championship. The events call for a lot of experience. It wasn’t easy but we managed to be quick and keep out of trouble. I have set myself the same goals for 2015. After driving the DS3 R5 in Spain and Wales, we are going to work hard to improve and prepare for the step up to the DS3 WRC. I’m very pleased that Citroën Racing has put its faith in me. Yves Matton and his team are very close to the drivers. It’s also an advantage to be able to learn in a team that has already won the world championship eight times.”
Born in the north of France (Nœux-les-Mines), Lefebvre grew up in rallying since his father was a competent driver himself at regional level. Even so, he made his competitive debut in karting in 2007, racing in France and Europe. He contested his first rally in a Renault Clio in 2010 before switching to France’s Renault Twingo one-make challenge. The following season, he won the R2 class on the Rallye Monte-Carlo and took part in the Volant Peugeot 207, winning the Junior title in 2012. His prize was four ERC events with the Peugeot Rally Academy in 2013…
Thanks to support from Red-Bull (helped by Loeb), Lefebvre was able to contest the 2014 Junior World Championship which he won in a DS3 R3/Michelin. In October, he was given an opportunity to sample the DS3 R5 and DS3 WRC during a Citroën Racing media event before competing in the world championship’s Spanish and British rounds in a DS3 R5.