The Citroën Saxo Kit-Car -chassis number 68- ex Citroën Spain changed owners since last weekend. Since 2002, for almost twenty years, the unit belonged to Jaime Fernández, uncle of Jorge González “Rantur”, in Galicia. Diego Caparrós has become, for a few days, its new owner.
The Cantabrian has served Tramalón to reveal the reason for the purchase and his future plans with a highly valued unit of our motorsport since his departure to the stages in 2001. Dani Solá and David Moreno used it in the Spanish Asphalt Rally Championship of that year. They didn`t get any victory (against the Monzón or Cañellas WRCs) but they didn`t abandon in any event, reaping the final third place.
Since its arrival in Galicia, and at the hands of “Rantur”, the car competed in various events of the Spanish and Galician Championship during 2002 and 2003. From 2004 they decided to stop. Until 2007 (year of the last event of the car, a hillclimb), they rented it sporadically to various competitors.
Diego Caparrós “had known the situation of the Saxo for quite some time” and did not hesitate to acquire it when the opportunity presented itself. “It was clear to us, especially because of the history of the car. They are cars that I have always loved, from when I lived this sport as a child”, he says.
Condition of the car today
The car is really good despite years of inactivity. This is what Caparrós says: “They stopped it in 2007 and when that time the car was well maintained. It is up to date with the engine and gearbox (only with 200 timed kilometers)”.
Still, the team will do a review to properly maintain the unit. “We will do a complete review, changing fluids and some more details. What is necessary to have it in the best possible way”.
And the plans?
Caparrós “has no intention” to compete with the car, but to paint it: “We are going to decorate and store it, we don’t want to compete with it. Racing requires a lot of resources and money for spare parts. They were very competitive in their day but many years have passed”, he declares.
Caparrós will decorate it with the same colors used by Solà and Moreno in the 2001 Spanish Asphalt Rally Championship. That is, with yellow and red as the protagonists, and sponsors such as the RACC Club or Total in the front line.
Of course, sooner or later, fans will enjoy it on sporadic occasions. These are the plans of the Cantabrian: “We will use it in specific historical events such as the Trasmiera Rally Festival. I think that racing regularly with it, against cars twenty years more modern, would be a crime today”.
Diego Caparrós also keeps the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V ex Miguel Martínez Conde, one of the most special units of Cantabria. In recent years, together with Gustavo Castro, they are one of the teams participating in the Rally Festival Hoznayo.
