Factbox: Sebastien Loeb

Reuters - Sun, 25 Oct 13:24:00 2009

Factbox on Sebastien Loeb, who won a record sixth world rally title in Wales.

Loeb - 0

* The 35-year-old Frenchman (born February 26, 1974) was already the only rally driver to have won five titles in a row, having surpassed retired Finnish great Tommi Makinen last year. Makinen was champion from 1996 to 1999.

* Loeb, with co-driver Daniel Elena, has won a record 54 rallies (including Sunday's) in a world championship career that started in 1999. All of his wins have been with Citroen.

* A gymnast before taking up rally driving, he is only the second Frenchman to have won the world title after 1994 champion Didier Auriol.

* Loeb broke his arm in a mountain biking accident with four races left and while 35 points ahead of the field in the 2006 season. He won that title when his nearest rival, Marcus Gronholm, could only finish fifth in Australia.

* The Citroen driver has been dubbed the 'Michael Schumacher of Rallying', his stranglehold on the sport comparable to that exerted by the German seven-times world champion at his peak in Formula One.

* In 2008 he took a record 11 wins in a single season, beating his previous best of 10 in the 2005 season. He has won at least three races in every year since 2003, when he almost took the title in his first full season.

* Loeb took his first win in Germany in 2002 after joining Citroen as French rally champion in 2001.

Reuters

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  1. to be fair Rich loeb won the race of champions 3 times­ in a row so he's pretty much proved hes the best­ driver there is cos he hasnt competed since he last won­ it

    From micricgrim, on Sun 8 Nov 2:49PM

  2. I AGREE WITH YOU RICH ,ITS WORTH SEEING WHAT HE CAN DO­ ,BUT AGAIN THE RACE OF CHAMPIONS IS SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY­ DON'T YOU THINK?

    From Mark, on Wed 28 Oct 4:13AM

  3. he really needs some quality opposition. Hirvonen is­ good but not up to the same standard.
    Would be­ interesting to see Solberg v Loeb in the same cars!

    From the real adrian, on Mon 26 Oct 3:46PM

  4. I really am a massive fan of Seb, and really appreciate­ the way he has changed himself from a pure tarmac­ winner into an all rounder but I just feel he really­ needs to drive another car just to prove that it is not­ the machine that gives him the edge.

    From Rich, on Mon 26 Oct 9:51AM

  5. Great job!

    From fabrice, on Sun 25 Oct 4:25PM
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