Sebastien Loeb extends his Citroen WRC contract for 2 more years

Sebastien Loeb will continue in the World Rally Championship for at least another two more seasons after agreeing a deal to remain with the factory Citroen squad until the end of the 2013 season.

Loeb’s future with the French make and, indeed, the WRC has been the subject of considerable speculation in recent months with suggestions that the 37-year-old Frenchman would call time on his rallying career if he captured an eighth world crown this year. He currently leads the standings following his breath-taking victory on Neste Oil Rally Finland last month.

In a statement, Loeb said: “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 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 Citroen, a team I know inside out and the DS3 WRC, the car that I helped [develop] with Citroen Racing.”

Loeb has been part of the Citroen family since 2001. He claimed his maiden WRC event win with the firm, on Rallye Deutschland, in 2002 and captured his first world crown driving a Citroen Xsara WRC in 2004. To date he has taken 66 victories in the world championship alongside co-driver Daniel Elena, who will continue alongside Loeb for another two seasons.

Hirvonen wins Japan but Loeb wins overall championship

Hirvonen wins Rally Japan but Loeb secures the Championship


Mikko Hirvonen completed the short final stage in Sapporo this afternoon to take victory on Rally Japan, while third place for Sebastien Loeb was enough to secure him the 2008 WRC drivers’ title.

Hirvonen crossed the finish line with a winning margin of 31.1sec but even the best possible result this weekend wasn’t enough to prevent Loeb sealing the series. However the Finn was quick to pay tribute to his rival at the end of the stage: “That’s it, it’s over. But okay, he won 10 events before coming here so he deserves it. I did all I could. Now we need to try again next year.”

After their heart-stopping spin on the penultimate stage, Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena climbed onto the roof of their C4 at the finish control, waving a French flag in celebration. “It’s incredible!” said Loeb. “But that was a terrible rally - it couldn’t have been trickier! It’s a great moment. It’s perfect. I’m so relieved this weekend is over now. Last year Daniel and I equalled the record with four wins, so being the only ones to do five we are very happy!”

Jari-Matti Latvala finished second, helping Ford to a maximum 18 point haul in the manufacturers’ championship, and ensuring the battle would go to the final round in Wales. “It’s very good for the team and very good for me,” he said. “After such a bad time in August I can be happy. There was a time when our good result in Turkey seemed a long way away, but now I can be happy again.”

Chris Atkinson finished fourth in his Subaru World Rally Team Impreza WRC2008, while the Suzuki World Rally Team celebrated its best ever result with sixth and seventh. “It’s been fantastic,” said P-G Andersson, who was sixth. We made a great start but after losing the tyre yesterday I though that was it - but we got ourselves together and pushed hard again today.” Toni Gardemeister said: “I’m really happy this rally is over - it’s not so nice at all! But it was a good result for our team for sure.”

Matthew Wilson brought his Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus to the finish in seventh place, while Subaru driver Petter Solberg was eighth, the last points winning place.

-WRC

Loeb wins in Argentina... again

Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Citroën C4 WRC overcame the three days of rain, fog and treacherous conditions that were thrown at them during the 2008 Rally Argentina to end the fiercely fought battle on top spot. The mud didn’t deter the spectators from turning out in their usual high numbers as Dani Sordo and Marc Martí joined their team-mates on the podium in third place. The visit to South America turned out to be highly successful for Citroën-Total, with Sébastien taking control in the Drivers’ championship, while Citroën is now just three points short of the lead in the Manufacturers’ standings.

The final leg of the event was once again marked by wet weather, with fog also making an appearance high in the mountains of the ’Giulio Cesare’ and ’El Condor’ tests. These were the only true stages of the day before one last visit to the super-special in Córdoba and the finish ceremony in Villa Carlos Paz.

Just like Diego Maradona in the days when he starred with the N°10 jersey in Argentina’s national soccer squad, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena deftly dribbled round the weekend’s countless pitfalls to put their rivals on the wrong foot as they powered home to victory with their Citroën C4 WRC. During Thursday’s shakedown session, as guest passenger alongside Seb, ’El Pibe de Oro’ had been able to see at first hand that the defending World Champion is not just strong technically but also that it’s not only with a ball that a top sportsman can juggle!

One of the challenges faced by Seb over the three days was having to run on Pirelli tyres which, in keeping with the regulations, turned out to be too hard for the wet conditions. Along with near-zero grip, crews often had to contend with extremely low visibility, too, so it’s no surprise that Sébastien and Daniel were delighted with their 39th world class win. "Believe me, it wasn’t easy," admitted Seb. "Given the delicate conditions, we had to stay doubly concentrated from start to finish. We also benefited from a faultless performance from our Citroën C4 which was once again competitive and reliable. Before coming here, we had been hoping that Rally Argentina would enable us to take the lead in the Drivers championship and score points for Citroën, and that’s what we’ve done!" Today’s result is Citroën’s fifth straight success in Argentina, while Sébastien has become the most successful driver ever on the South American fixture with a score of four consecutive wins to his name.

"It would have been so easy to get caught out," remarked Dani Sordo before the podium ceremony. "It really has been a difficult event: a single bend could have compromised all the good work put in by everyone in the team and the chance for Citroën to close the gap in the championship. I am please to have finished third and my times were on a par with what I was hoping for."

With two cars on the podium, Sébastien Loeb now on top of the Drivers’ championship and Citroën closer to the lead in the Manufacturers’ standings, Olivier Quesnel was also understandably delighted with the way the weekend turned out. "It’s an excellent result for us. When you see how the event unfolded, it clearly wasn’t an easy rally, yet both our crews figured amongst the few who didn’t put a foot wrong. Apart from the steering rack problem which slowed Dani on Friday, we didn’t have any mechanical trouble either. The combination of two such sure-footed drivers and the reliability of the C4 has enabled us to go top in the Drivers’ standings and also make up much of our deficit in the Manufacturers’ points table. It’s now up to us to keep up the hard work in order to leave nothing to chance with a view to repeating the same sort of performance in Jordan, which is the next round. I would also like to congratulate Conrad Rautenbach and David Senior whose fine run took them to fourth overall with their Citroën C4 WRC run by PH Sport with support from Citroën Sport Technologies technicians. Conrad scored his first WRC points in an event that was far from straightforward given the conditions."
-Citroen WRC

Citroen C2 and C4 "by Loeb" Special Editions

Citroën is launching two new special series models with one, unique signature, the C2 and C4 “by LOEB”

Marking Citroën’s return to the World Rally Championship in 2007, the special series lends a new dimension to the personality of both vehicles.

The C2 by LOEB and C4 by LOEB both have a strong sporty attitude and stand apart with their attractive trim.Based on the C2 and C4 Coupé models, their difference lies in special equipment and the renown of the “by LOEB” label.

The “by LOEB” special series is part of the Marque’s ambitious range renewal policy, but first and foremost enables Citroën to honour and thank the three-time WRC champion, in 2004, 2005 and 2006, whose numerous triumphs serve to enhance the brand’s image.

-photo WRC.com
-news Citroen

Sebastien Loeb wins 2006 WRC Championship

Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA, Sebastien Loeb has become FIA World Rally Champion for the third year in a row, despite being almost 14 thousand kilometres away from this weekend's Telstra Rally Australia, recuperating with a broken arm. Loeb becomes the first driver run by a privateer team to claim the drivers' title since 1981, when Ari Vatanen did it with a Rothmans Ford Escort run by David Sutton.

After breaking his arm in the days after Rally Cyprus, Loeb gifted Marcus Gronholm an admittedly-slim second chance for the 2006 driver's championship. Gronholm could afford to finish one of the remaining four events third to stand any chance of taking the title but even then, he would have to win the remaining rounds and for Loeb not to score to do it. Gronholm won in Turkey, exactly what was needed but a mistake on the third stage of Telstra Rally Australia meant that the best he could achieve was fifth, eliminating his hopes of a third title.

This year has been an eventful one for Loeb. Not only did he claim the record for the number of rally wins, he either won or finished second on every event he contested; a remarkable achivement. It is not yet known when Loeb will make his return to the championship. However he can rest easy knowing that he will not have to rush back to take the title.

"To win the title is a very nice feeling," Loeb said in a telephone interview with BP Ultimate World Rally Radio at the end of Telstra Rally Australia.

"Luckily for me I had a good number of points before I had my accident," he added. "When you are at home and you know you can't drive and you're watching the rally on the internet, it's very difficult; very frustrating to not be able to fight. It's a good to know that we won the championship.

"For me it was a big challenge to come with Kronos at the beginning of the season, but they gave me a perfect car all season, like it was with Citroen. I would like to be there to celebrate it, but hopefully I'll come back before the end of the season, so we can all celebrate it together."

-WRC.com

Loeb sets new record after win in Japan

After Sebastien Loeb's win in Rally Japan, he has surpassed Carlos Sainz's record of 26 WRC wins. That puts him in first place with 27 WRC wins to his credit, at only 32 years of age. In 2005, he also scored a record by winning 10 FIA World Rally Championship events and on that year he managed to win 6 rallies in a row, yet another record.

His co-driver Daniel Elena is equally pleased as he continue to earn co-driver championship points. Elena broke Luis Moya's record by winning his 25th win in Italy this year. His win in Japan makes it the 27th for the record. Together with Loeb, the duo can very well be on a long streak of winning record.

Congratulations Sebastien and Daniel!