Sébastian Loeb has clinched his eighth world rally title, making him motorsport’s most successful world champion surpassing F1 legend, Michael Schumacher who won seven titles and Moto GP/500cc ace, Valentino Rossi who also has seven titles to his name.
“For sure I’m proud to become the most successful driver in motorsport and feel very happy,” said 37-year-old Loeb who has amassed an unparalleled 67 wins from 151 starts in the WRC. “We were equal until this week with Michael Schumacher who had seven – now we have eight. I don’t really want to compare different branches of the sport but it’s very special. I never thought I’d achieve this when I started my career.”
Having originally competed as one of France’s top young gymnasts, Loeb switched to rallying in the mid-nineties and first came to international prominence winning the Super 1600 Drivers’ Cup, the predecessor to the Junior World Rally Championship, in 2001. The following year he joined the Citroën factory team and together with co-driver Daniel Elena scored his first WRC victory in Germany. After finishing championship runner-up by just a single point in 2003, Loeb took his first world crown in 2004 and now has mounted seven successful title defences.
Having renewed his contract with Citroën, Loeb will be gunning for a ninth consecutive title when the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship kicks off with the Monte Carlo Rally in January.
“We have won eight titles in a row and I can only have the goal to win another title next year,” he remarked. “There is no precise plan for the day I stop driving – at the moment the next goal is the next title. If I can make it 10 titles I hope I can, but I don’t know. I take everything year after year. For now my goal is next year; after that I will see.”
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