Loeb: “Estering is not an easy test”

If Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen) secured the title in Austin (Texas) two weeks ago, the fight for the honorary place of vice-champion is still in full swing with two rounds remaining in the season.

The World RX field meets this weekend on the Buxtehude circuit in Estering (Germany) with Sébastien Loeb in 5th place in the Drivers' ranking, only 9 points behind current 2nd Mattias Ekström (Ausi) who won last year on this track.

“The WRX in Germany is not an easy test. It's a circuit on which we fly a lot because there is very little grip, whether on the asphalt or on the dirt, and that complicates things quite a bit. The track is quite narrow but it is interesting. To be honest, it's not really my favorite circuit, but in any case, with the latest developments on the Peugeot 208 WRX, I hope we will be competitive and can achieve good results”, recognizes the nine-time champion WRC.

“As usual, the objective is to have a clean weekend from start to finish, and to avoid being stuck in traffic from the first qualifying: this is the key to success in Rallycross. The progress we have made in terms of car development is encouraging; the engineers and mechanics are working very hard and I hope we will be able to see it come to fruition on the Estering track,” added the Alsatian.

His teammate Timmy Hansen also plans to showcase himself after taking 2nd place last year at the German meeting. A good result would help Team Peugeot maintain the pressure on EKS Audi Sport, which is 46 points ahead of the Lion.

“Germany is a typical “land” circuit on which you have to be in “attack” mode all the time. It’s very exciting to ride there!, assures the Swede. After the weekend in the United States, where there was almost no possibility of overtaking, Buxtehude offers a quite different profile. Everything can happen ! It's a real, traditional, old-fashioned rallycross circuit. I'm looking forward to it: it's the kind of event where you throw the car into a corner, you accelerate, you slide on the dirt... The sensations are great! I finished second last year and I plan to do even better this year. »

It is also the only circuit on the calendar on which Johan Kristoffersson has not yet won. This lack of success is an opportunity for the competition since the double world champion was only defeated in Mettet (Belgium) this year... where Sébastien Loeb won.