Loeb: A decisive tire change

Thanks to information from engineers and weather officials within the French team, the nine-time world champion chose hard tires at the start of the final stage, which allowed him to ride faster than his rivals on rubber. tender.

Published on 29/10/2018 à 15:12

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The legend of rally succeeded in his bet. Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) achieved the major performance of winning the Rally of Catalonia (Spain), five years after its ultimate success in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The Alsatian was able to take the lead in the Sunday morning specials, thanks in particular to an inspired tactical move.

The winners are back to the service! Well done @SebastienLoeb and @DanosElena! #WRC #rallycatalunya pic.twitter.com/lHy2veOBRO

— Citroën Racing (@CitroenRacing) 28th October, 2018

Third in the general classification, eight seconds behind leader Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) after the second stage, the nine-time world champion surprised his rivals by opting for hard tires, while the other competitors chose soft ones.

It should be noted that at this time, the temperature of the tarmac was cool due to Saturday's showers and many wet sections remained. Soft tires therefore seemed to be the most judicious solution, since they had to offer optimal grip even at low temperatures. Gold, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena decided otherwise.

Cedric Mazenq, operations engineer of the victorious crew, explains this moment of truth. “Being eight seconds from the lead, if we wanted to go back up, we had to make a move. And if it had to be done, it was in the morning because the grip was a bit between two, with wet drying while we expected dryness and therefore tighter gaps for the afternoon.

However, we had already encountered this type of condition in tests, and we clearly realized that Michelin's hard slick could be better, provided you managed to heat it up. There we knew that at least the first kilometers were dry, which should help warm it up. All this allowed us to put Seb in the know”, explains the French engineer.

From gravel to tarmac, @SebastienLoeb & @DanosElena showed they are still among the greatests! This is how they took their 79th victory in WRC! pic.twitter.com/LhvihAiWXt

— Citroën Racing (@CitroenRacing) 29th October, 2018

The estimated winnings from such a bet amounted to “13 seconds on the loop”. The 44-year-old pilot, however, was not convinced… “Little by little, the idea crept into his mind, but he was afraid it would rain because the weather was still uncertain. That's why we installed software on the car while waiting to continue debating."

A few moments before setting off on the 15th special, Sébastien Loeb changes his mind thanks to Laurent Poggi, the Citroën Racing weather informant. “Positioned at the finish of the second SS of the day, (he) confirmed to him that it was drying. That's where we put them on, and that's where we win the rally! » welcomes Cédric Mazenq.

Discover the analysis of the Rally of Catalonia carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2189 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms and from this Wednesday on newsstands.