With his co-pilot Daniel Elena, Sebastien Loeb won the World Rally Championship nine times in a row. He is considered by many specialists to be one of the greatest rally drivers of all time and one of the most complete.
At the microphone of Bixente LizarazuSébastien Loeb tells how he got into car racing.
“I went towards what stretched out its arms to me”
Nothing predestined Sébastien Loeb to become a rally driver. Son of a sports teacher, he first practices gymnastics, like his friends. It was not until adolescence, around the age of 14, thathe is passionate about mopeds, then for carsseveral years later.
At 20 years, the champion becoming addicted to speed signs up for the Rallye Jeunesan operation to detect young talents. “When I arrived in the Rallye Jeunes, no one had trained me. Out of 15,000 participants, I found myself first for two consecutive years. It turned out that I was the fastest in France”he says.
“I was a building electrician, I was far from buying a racing car and competing in the world” – Sébastien Loeb.
His incredible performance at the Rallye Jeunes allowed him to get noticed by Dominique Heintz. The one who will become his mentor takes him under his wing and encourages him to do other rallies. Thanks to him, Sébastien Loeb discovers this universe and its challenges. “At the beginning, you need budgets and the partners that follow, you need money. I was lucky to be supervised to manage all the side effects of the rally in order to progress”he acknowledges, “When you’re young and you’re an amateur, it’s the most complicated period”.
To succeed, Sébastien Loeb believes thathe knew how to seize the opportunities that presented themselves to him : “I ended up in there, because that’s where I had my chance. I never dreamed of coming to this. I was given the opportunity to start”.
It’s mostly someoneextremely gifted in his disciplineaccustomed to riding on instinct. “I made myself all alone in terms of driving, no one taught me”he confides, “I wasn’t a fan of anyone in particular. I rode my way and realized it paid off as I stayed cleaner than most.”.
Today, the rally driver is 48 years old and continues to live from his passion. “I still love it and I’m still passionate about it. I’m lucky that I’m offered to race in a Ferrari, take part in the Dakar or do the Monte-Carlo in the WRC. I take advantage of it. I like it, I have fun and so it’s cool »he concludes.