Sebastien Loeb has agreed terms with Citroën to drive for them in the World Rally Championship until the end of the 2013 season. He is currently celebrating that news by holding a comfortable lead in Rally Deutschland.
Talking about his contract extension Loeb says he’s looking forward to a new era in the WRC, “With the arrival of other manufacturers in the championship, the competition is going to get tougher in the years to come.
“All the more so with the rule changes concerning the starting order coming in 2012 as all the drivers will be fighting on a level playing field,” he said.
“To take the fight to them I’m putting my trust in Citroën, a team I know inside out and the DS3 WRC, the car that I helped set up with Citroën Racing.”
If Loeb completes the win in Germany he will make Citroën the most successful manufacturer of all time. Currently Citroën and Ford are tied on 77 wins; incredibly, 66 of Citroën’s wins have been thanks to the seven-time champion from France. It’s no wonder the relationship will continue.
Citroën signs Loeb until 2013
Between them they have changed the face of the World Rally Championship and re-written just about every record in the rally history book and now Citroen and seven time world champion Sébastien Loeb have decided to maintain the relationship, with the French driver signing up to contest the 2012 and 2013 FIA World Rally Championships.
As well as his seven world titles – and, as he is leading the 2011 title chase, he is well on his way to his eighth title – Loeb holds the record for most event wins, at 66, the most podium finishes at 10 and most consecutive wins in one season, as well as a host of other records. Meanwhile, Citroen is one win away from taking title as the most successful rally team in the history of the sport away from Ford with which it is tied at 77 wins. Given that 66 of those 77 wins are by Sébastien Loeb, the importance of Loeb to the team is clear to see. With the event that could take that title away from Ford is the Rally of Germany this weekend (19-21 August 2011), which Loeb has won every time the event has been run, a record breaking eight times, Citroen’s relentless climb to the top seems set to continue.
Loeb is, though, is showing no signs of slowing down with the 37 year old saying in recent weeks that he needs the adrenalin of motorsport competition in his life and nothing else he has done can provide the same intense excitement. The recent rule changes and the arrival of new teams have intensified his design to keep on competing.
“With the arrival of other manufacturers in the championship, the competition is going to get tougher in the years to come. All the more so with the rule changes concerning the starting order coming in 2012 as all the drivers will be fighting on a level playing field. To take the fight to them I’m putting my trust in Citroën, a team I know inside out and the DS3 WRC, the car that I helped set up with Citroën Racing.â€
For Frédéric Banzet, the Citroën CEO, “Sébastien Loeb is a great ambassador for Citroen. Today, his image and ours are intimately linked. He is the very image of the daring, the sporting spirit and the love of competition, values that are very dear to us. We’re proud of his loyalty to Citroën, and of the fact that’s he’s continuing his career with the team that’s supported him since his debut.â€
Locally, Loeb made his first appearance in Australia in 2002, when he finished in seventh place in Rally Australia, while he made his New Zealand debut in 2003 with a fourth place and followed this with a second place Australia. He repeated his fourth place in New Zealand in 2004 and in Australia, sealed his first driver’s title with his local win in what was the final event of the 2004 season. In 2005 Loeb won his first Rally of New Zealand, but Australia saw a very rare Loeb retirement. Loeb didn’t contest the 2006 rallies of Australia and New Zealand due to injuries sustain in a push bike accident, but was back on the Kiwi podium in 2007 with a second place, while in 2008 he was back in first place in Rally New Zealand. In 2009 he finished second in Rally Australia and last year he was on the third step of the podium in New Zealand. Loeb will next be seen locally in Rally Australia, which takes place in around Coffs Harbour in New South Wales on 8-11 September 2011.