Citroen boss Olivier Quesnel has said that he definitely wants to see Chris Atkinson back in a C4 WRC following his performance on Rally Ireland last weekend, the opening round in the 2009 World Rally Championship.

Atkinson made his debut for the Citroen Junior Team on the Sligo-based event and he put in an impressive performance.

Indeed, although he made two mistakes - one in SS6 on day 1 and one in the penultimate test, which dropped him from fourth to fifth, he still posted some great times - including eleven top-five stages time in total.

Speaking at the finish, Quesnel was clearly happy with what the ex-Subaru man had achieved first time out in a Citroen.

“I hope he will stay with us,” said Quesnel. “Chris was going up and up and up with every stage.

“We will have a discussion but I don't know yet, the rally is just finished but I hope he will return.”

Citroen Junior team manager, Benoit Nogier, meanwhile echoed that view, all of which bodes well for the Australian, although Chris himself concedes that the future is far from certain [see separate story].

“Chris's fifth position is an excellent result, and we hope that he will be back with the Citroen Junior Team soon as he has shown that he can mix it with the best drivers in the world,” Nogier concluded.