Muller third fastest on WRC shakedown

World Touring Car Championship leader Yvan Muller was third fastest on the shakedown run for this weekend’s FIA World Rally Championship event in France.

Muller is competing with the Petter Solberg World Rally Team in a Citroen Xsara in his first WRC event, whilst his Norwegian team-mate for the weekend was fastest on the shakedown run in the C4.

The shakedown isn’t representative of the pace expected on the rally proper, with WRC leader Sebestien Loeb sixth fastest in his works run Citroen. The French driver can clinch his seventh consecutive title this weekend at his home event.

Elsewhere in Paris, the WRC contenders for next year were unveiled, with the Ford Fiesta WRC, Citroen DS3 WRC and Mini Countryman WRC cars, which will all run the same 1.6 turbo specification engines as the WTCC will run in 2011. The Mini will share it’s engine with the BMW WTCC motorsport programme.