Historic, for being the first victory of a Kit-Car vehicle in the World Rally Championship. Citroën and its Xsara Kit-Car, in addition to the late Philippe Bugalski, will go down in the history of the event after winning the 1999 Rally Catalonia. A milestone against the powerful machines of Mitsubishi, Ford, Toyota or Subaru, among others.
And why decpection? Due to the breakdown at the beginning of the second day of one of our representatives, Chus Puras, together with Marc Martí. They lead the rally by seven seconds over their teammates. When leaving the closed park, the Xsara said enough for reasons that are still unknown. It could have been Puras’ first WRC victory. Fate smiled on him two years later, in Corsica, with the Xsara WRC.
Not only they were the protagonists, since we enjoyed more Spanish representatives fighting for positions at the top. Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya (abandonment by alternator), Luis Climent, Oriol Gómez, Luis Monzón … Quite a show. A pleasure to recover the career that marked an era in the WRC. Let’s relive it in the best way with the official summary of Canal + and a live section:
Live stage Rally Catalonia 1999:
