Sébastien Loeb celebrated his 47th birthday

While nothing destined him to do rally, but rather to the profession of electrician, the young Sébastien Loeb is passionate about cars and speed. In 1995, he quickly forgot his career as a specialized worker to launch himself into rallying, via the “Volant Rallye Jeune”, the FFSA detection sector. Very quickly Loeb established himself as one of the national revelations in the discipline.

He meets his long-time co-pilot: Daniel Elena. This is the beginning of a legendary duo. They won the Citroën Saxo Kit Car trophy in 1999 and joined the French FFSA rally team and participated in a few races in WRC.

Loeb and Elena became French and Junior World Champions in 2001. They also reached a WRC podium for the first time after a memorable race at the San Remo. The manufacturers want to bet on the French duo at all costs.

Loeb finally signed up with Citroën in 2002 for a WRC program, where he did freelance work. It was during the German Rally, a stone's throw from his native Alsace, that the Frenchman won the World Championship for the first time in his career against astonished veterans.

He became a starter at Citroën Sport the following season. He is part of the trio which brings together two rally legends, Carlos Sainz and Colin MacRae. The young Frenchman won the legendary Monte-Carlo rally and came close to the title in his first full-time season.

The year 2004 was the year of Sébastien Loeb's first coronation, a crown that he would never let go of... for the next nine years! During this period the Frenchman and his co-driver will break all records and overwhelmingly dominate the competition. Between 2004 and 2012, they made 126 starts and won 74 times. Creepy.

Passionate about motor racing in general, Loeb decided to engage in other disciplines without abandoning the WRC. He thus participated in a few rounds of Rallycross and especially twice 24 hours of Le Mans in 2005 and 2006, with a second place for best result.

He left the Rally when Citroën, his employer, decided to stop his commitments in this discipline. And immediately follows the French firm in the world tourism championships.

We also see it on the Dakar, with Peugeot et en janvier dernier avec l’équipe anglaise Prodrive et ses BRC. Encore aujourd’hui et malgré une “retraite” en 2012, Loeb prend part à quelques rallyes, notamment chez Hyundai depuis 2019 et 2020.

Sébastien Loeb is today one of the references in world motorsport and will have above all contributed to the popularity of rallying in France, and left an imprint on the sport forever. Happy birthday Mr Loeb.