AFP
The Dakar star will be racing a Citroen DS3 in the World Rally Championship next year.
Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah is joining eight times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb and Finn Mikko Hirvonen at Citroen next season, the French team said on Thursday.
The 40-year-old Qatari will miss the season-opening Monte Carlo rally in January when he defends his Dakar Rally title but will be available for the Rally of Sweden in February.
“We're delighted that (Al-Attiyah) has chosen our team to make his debut in a World Rally Car, and we're determined to put all our support behind him to help him move up to the top level,” said Olivier Quesnel, Citroen's team principal.
Al-Attiyah will have a busy year because he also plans to compete at the London Olympics in clay pigeon shooting.
Citroen has already entered two DS3 cars for next season with Loeb hoping to retain his world crown alongside Hirvonen, who was his closest rival this year before becoming his team-mate after leaving Ford to replace Frenchman Sebastien Ogier.
Citroen said Al-Attiyah and co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini will have an identical car to Loeb and Hirvonen.
Nasser al-Attiyah.
AFP
Although Al-Attiyah won the 2006 P-WRC title for production cars, he has never raced in the World Rally Championship.
Al-Attiyah joins a Citroen team who won their fourth consecutive manufacturers crown this year with Frenchman Loeb extending his record run with an eighth straight world title.