Seb Loeb returns! 20 years later, star back for WRC Safari Rally
French driver Sebastien Loeb steers his Ford Puma Rally 1 with French co-driver Isabelle Galmiche during the SS10 stage of the Rally of Portugal in Vieira do Minho, on May 21, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The 48-year-old Frenchman will be marking his first Kenya start since 2002 when he steered a Citroën Xsara to fifth place, two years before starting his World Rally Championship (WRC) dominance.
- Loeb announced his return to M-Sport Ford’s line-up to the sixth round slated from June 23 to 26 at the scenic Rift Valley.
Nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb is excited to be making a return to the Safari Rally after two decades.
The 48-year-old Frenchman will be marking his first Kenya start since 2002 when he steered a Citroën Xsara to fifth place, two years before starting his World Rally Championship (WRC) dominance.
Loeb announced his return to M-Sport Ford’s line-up to the sixth round slated from June 23 to 26 at the scenic Rift Valley.
“Kenya is quite amazing; I think it’s the rally from which I have the most memories. In 2002, the rally was very different. The longest stage was 120km long and we all had a helicopter over our cars announcing all the wildlife that we were approaching on the stage,” the legend said.
Leob reckoned that Safari Rally is now different and is more like a typical WRC rally, but hastened to add that the difference, compared to the last round in Portugal, is that he has no experience of the stages. “It is always much more complicated when you arrive at a rally where you have never done the stages before. It will not make it easy, but I am really happy to be going,” said Loeb on the WRC website.
This year’s Safari Rally comprises 19 special stages covering almost 365 kilometres of competition.
Loeb’s announcement comes just days after his fellow compatriot and eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier also revealed an entry for the Kenyan encounter.
Loeb is currently contesting selected rounds with the British squad - most recently appearing at Rally Portugal last week where he retired from the lead after a mistake saw him collide with a wall.
M-Sport Ford confirmed Friday morning that the Frenchman will once again be co-driven by Isabelle Galmiche, who also guided him to an overall victory on the pairing’s Ford debut at Rallye Monte-Carlo in January. He will line up alongside fellow Puma drivers Craig Breen, Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux.
“It was nice to see we were competitive in Portugal with the Puma, and it is good to know the car is very fast and competitive on gravel,” said Loeb. “This is something very different from Portugal. I don’t know the current version of the rally, but I have seen some videos of the stages and they are very different... they appear to be rough with very big stones.”
