Sebastian Leob

>> PERSONALITY FEATURE SEBASTIEN LOEB

Date of Birth Age Birthplace First Rally Co-Driver Rally Wins 26.02.1974 45 Haguenau, France 1999, Rally RACC Daniel Elena 79

NOT JUST A WRC LEGEND, BUT ONE OF MOTOR“ SPORT’S ALL-TIME GREATS.

Loeb won nine consecutive world titles from 2004 - 2012 and has racked up 79 event wins. After several seasons away, the Frenchman is again at the forefront of WRC competition with defending manufacturers’ world champions Hyundai Motorsport.

THE OVERTAKE MAGAZINE Loeb excelled as a gymnast before turning his attention to motorsport in 1995. He won the French Citroën Saxo Trophy in 1999 which brought him to the attention of Citroën Sport boss and career mentor Guy Frequelin. In 2001 he underlined his potential by finishing second in a guest appearance in a factory Xsara WRC at Rallye Sanremo and signed for Citroën in 2002. Loeb took his first win that year at Rallye Deutschland and in 2003 he won three rallies and missed out on his first world title by only one point. He won six rallies in 2004 to begin his remarkable title run and the following year he became the only driver to win 10 rallies in a season en route to his second crown. Title number three came in 2006 at the wheel of a private Kronos-run Xsara, despite missing three rallies after falling from his mountain bike and breaking his arm. In 2007 Loeb was back with Citroën Sport in the new C4 WRC and won his fourth crown, adding a fifth in 2008 after another vintage year when he won 11 rallies. His 2009 title was a less easy ride. After a storming start with five wins from five rallies, Loeb suffered a torrid mid-season run, and eventually took the title by a point after a last round scrap with Mikko Hirvonen. Normal service was resumed in 2010 after eight more wins and he added two more titles in 2011 and 2012. He completed only a partial programme in 2013, bowing out amid emotional scenes at his home event in Alsace, the region where he was born. Loeb made a full-time switch to circuit racing, joining Citroën’s World Touring Car team, before mixing World Rallycross and cross-country rally programmes with PSA stablemate Peugeot. Rumours of a WRC return came to fruition in 2018 with a three-rally programme in Citroën’s C3 and he shocked the sport by claiming a thrilling victory in his final event in Spain. Loeb was snapped up by Hyundai Motorsport for six rounds in 2019 and has a similar programme in 2020, sharing the squad’s third car with Dani Sordo.