Daniel Elena definitively ends his collaboration with Sébastien Loeb

This is the end of a legendary duo in the world of WRC and Rally. This Sunday, Daniel Elena announced that he would no longer be Sébastien's co-pilot Loeb next season. The Monegasque communicated his decision to the Frenchman in his “L’oeil de Danos” section. Associated for the first time in 1997 to participate in the Critérium des Cévennes, the two men have not left each other since. By winning nine world championship titles and 79 WRC victories, Daniel Elena is the most successful co-driver in history. He also participated in a single round as a driver, during the Monte-Carlo Rally in 1998 with Olivier Campana at his side. 

“It’s a book that closes, explains Daniel Elena. There were a lot of things, it's certain that the story of the month of March (he left the rally-raid program with Prodrive), made me question myself and see my future rather differently. Today, the motivation to get back into a racing crate and such is gone, and yet I am a great enthusiast. I have turned the page, I no longer want to throw around notes, I want to devote myself to something else.”

“Probably I will do other rallies in the future, and we will not necessarily do them together, comments Sébastien Loeb. So it's a decision that we took together, for different reasons, Daniel has his own, I more or less mine. Daniel will have time to devote himself to his children and then to his store.”

The nine-time world champion is preparing his return to the WRC next season with M-Sport, probably during the Monte-Carlo Rally, the weekend of January 20. During the last tests he carried out, he had Isabelle Galmiche as co-driver.