Absent from the world rally championship this year, Sébastien Loeb will participate in the Azores rally on March 31 and April 1, counting for the European championship.
Twenty-two years after his last victory in the category, Sébastien Loeb will make his return to the European Rally Championship! The legendary French driver, who celebrated his 49th birthday last month, will take part in the Azores rally, counting for the ERC, on March 31 and April 1. He will be driving a Skoda for this gravel event in which he has never participated before, and which has only been won once by a Frenchman, Yves Loubet (the son of the current WRC driver ), during the first edition in 1992. His co-driver will be none other than his current companion, Laurène Godey. ” Super happy to be able to start the Azores Rallye for the first time in my career, reacted Sébastien Loeb on his social networks. This week will be placed under the sign of pleasure with this atypical event, Laurène in the right seat and the discovery of the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Impatient to be there ! »
Loeb leader of the world rally-raid championship
After taking part in four world championship rallies last year, even winning the Monte Carlo rally (his 80th victory, a record to beat) and finishing eleventh in the general classification, Sébastien Loeb should not be racing in the WRC this season. . No team has the means to afford the talents of the Alsatian driver, even for a freelance or two. This is particularly the case of the M-Sport team, which welcomed him last year but which already had to break the bank this winter to secure the services of Ott Tänak. Sébastien Loeb’s aim in 2023 was to finally win the Dakar anyway, but he couldn’t do better than second behind Nasser Al-Attiyah, despite seven stage victories and a magnificent comeback in the second week. Currently leading the world rally-raid championship, he has decided to give up the Extreme E season, the electric SUV championship.
