Geneva 2010: Citroen DS3 Racing is no escargot

For those who may have yet to notice, Citroen's been dominating the World Rally Championship for the better part of a decade now. But notwithstanding the odd special edition C4 or Xsara, the French automaker hasn't capitalized on its rally success in the same way as Subaru and Mitsubishi have. Soon Citroen Sport will be switching from the C4 to the new DS3 in line with the new WRC format, but they're not waiting around to see how it fares before launching a rally-inspired version for the road. And this is it.

Called the DS3 Racing, the premium hot hatch is a limited edition packed with bits and pieces garnered from its WRC dominance. That means 200 horsepower from its 1.6-liter turbo four, a 15-millimeter lower sport suspension, upgraded brakes and the requisite trim enhancements. The result may look like a jack-o-lantern with a French accent, but make no mistake about it: the Mini Cooper JCW has been put on notice.

Unfortunately, this is one of those mouth-watering machines kept from American shores, but you can take a closer look in our gallery of live shots from the Geneva show floor (where it debuted alongside the Survolt and DS High Rider concepts) by click-clicking the thumbnails below.

Photos by Noah Joseph / Copyright ©2010 Weblogs, Inc.