Sébastien Loeb biography
Sébastien Loeb, (born February 26, 1974, Haguenau, Bas Rhin, France), French race-car driver who was broadly thought-about to be the best rally racer of all time, having gained a report 9 World Rally Championship (WRC) titles (2004–12)
After successful 5 gold medals on the French nationwide gymnastics championships by the point he was 15, Loeb switched to auto racing. In 1995 he started rally driving, and in 1998, paired with codriver Daniel Elena of Monaco, he began racing within the French Citroën Saxo Trophy Series, successful twice that season earlier than taking the title the next yr. In 2000 Loeb gained the two-wheel-drive-class French gravel championship earlier than capturing the Super 1600 class of the Junior WRC in 2001.
In the 2002 season, Loeb’s first as a WRC driver with the Citroën Total World Rally Team, he was runner-up in his first race and gained his second, the Rally of Germany. During his first full season, in 2003, he captured three occasions to complete only one level behind Petter Solberg of Norway. That served because the springboard to Loeb’s preeminence within the sport. He gained his first driver’s championship in 2004 by tying the WRC season report with six victories, which enabled him to simply beat Solberg for the title. Loeb proved to be much more dominant the following season, posting 10 victories—whereas additionally changing into the primary driver to win six in a row—and successful the title by 56 factors to interrupt a 25-year-old report.
In 2006 Loeb raced for the non-public workforce Citroën Xsara WRC and broke the report of 26 profession WRC victories set by Carlos Sainz of Spain, totaling eight extra wins that season en path to a 3rd consecutive drivers’ title, regardless of lacking the final 4 rounds of the championship due to a damaged shoulder. Having made his debut on the well-known Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance simply the earlier yr, the versatile Loeb earned a second-place end within the occasion in 2006. In 2007 he returned to Citroën Total and drove the brand new C4 WRC, however studying to deal with a brand new automotive didn't stop him from successful eight occasions and his fourth consecutive WRC crown.
Loeb—with Elena nonetheless at his aspect after a decade’s partnership—took his dominance to a different stage in 2008, setting information with 11 wins in a single season and a fifth WRC title (the earlier report of 4 was collectively held by Finland’s Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen). In 2009 he added to his report championship tally in dramatic vogue, taking first place within the remaining race of the season to narrowly edge Mikko Hirvonen of Finland for one more WRC title. Loeb gained his seventh championship in 2010 after triumphing in eight races that season, which included his noteworthy sixtieth profession win, a championship-clinching victory on the Rally of France that ended on the streets of his hometown, Haguenau. His eighth championship, in 2011, broke Loeb’s tie with Formula One driver Michael Schumacher for essentially the most high skilled titles in auto-racing historical past. After successful his ninth championship in 2012, Loeb retired from full-time rallying, solely coming into choose WRC occasions. In 2014 he started competing on the touring-car circuit.