Loeb: You can tell if you're asking too much

You were made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by Nicolas Sarkozy last week. Can we know what the President of the Republic told you?
“He told me several times that he was very happy to be able to personally present this distinction to me. I felt a lot of sincerity in his words. It's not every day that you are invited to the Elysée Palace, especially to receive a medal, but I found this ceremony very friendly and relaxed. It is also a great recognition for motorsport and rally especially. »

Let's come back to the Sardinia Rally. If you could redo history, would you do some things differently?
“Yes, I would win this rally! To tell the truth, we can ask ourselves the question of whether it was appropriate to try not to open the road. Even without our puncture and the penalty that accompanied it, I think we would have had difficulty getting the better of Jari-Matti Latvala. For this, it would have been necessary to plan for the dust of Sunday morning? Ultimately, I have no regrets about the outcome of this rally since we only conceded three points to Mikko Hirvonen. »

You won the 2008 Acropolis Rally by managing your tires better than the others. How do you do ?
?It?s true that the race was decided on this point in particular. Last year, we couldn't do the whole rally at full speed. In the long Aghii Teodori special, I quickly felt that the tires would not resist the breakneck pace. I found a compromise in my driving and managed to complete the entire loop of special stages without puncturing. With experience, you can tell if you're asking too much of the machine. »