Sebastien Loeb hasn’t been snapped up by a World Rally Championship team for a part-time drive this year, but the phone may already be ringing again after his latest triumph. The nine-time world champion once again reminded the rallying fraternity of his supreme talent last Sunday by adding the Azores Rally to his glittering list of achievements.
Competing on his first traditional rally of the year following an invitation from the event organisers, 49-year-old Loeb and co-driver Laurene Godey – the Frenchman’s partner – took a Toksport Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 to a 19.2-second victory over two-time Azores winner Andreas Mikkelsen.
The feat on the Portuguese island gravel rally was made impressive by the fact that it was Loeb’s first competitive outing in the car, rekindling memories of his charge to the 2022 Monte Carlo win, his 80th career WRC victory, on the debut of M-Sport’s Ford Puma. Loeb’s victory was made even sweeter by the way he fended off a charge from Mikkelsen, competing in the same machinery, which the Norwegian spent countless hours developing last year.
Coincidently, Loeb’s victory arrived just hours before French television station Canal had scheduled the premiere of a new documentary celebrating Loeb’s career – Sebastien Loeb: Eternal Pilot. It’s a title that couldn’t be more apt since it seems the driver they call Le Maestro is showing no signs of slowing down and is set to continue to stun motorsport fans into his fifties.
Following the victory, Loeb wrote on Twitter: “Thank you, Azores Rally. An incredible rally, a top co-driver, a perfect car, amazing tyres… a weekend I’m not ready to forget.”
While his display in the Azores once again underlined how he has lost none of his speed, at this moment it appears that Loeb could sit out the WRC this year. M-Sport declared interest in again signing him to a part-time programme after his impressive displays last year, when he led three of the four rallies he contested. But, as with most things in motorsport, it all comes down to funding and resources, and at the minute M-Sport is pouring all of its firepower into new signing Ott Tanak. But the door is not completely closed.
Loeb has no WRC programme at present, but could still make an appearance in 2023
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
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