Sébastien Loeb: “Limit the damage”

Sébastien Loeb, before the departure of Rally from New Zealand, was able to prepare ideally. The reconnaissance allowed him to familiarize himself with a route which promises to be selective. “ For now, everything is okay, confides the six-time World Champion. We tried to prepare as best as possible for the rally. There are a lot of new stages, so a lot of “reconnaissance” work. Overall it went well. We saw some difficult stages, still beautiful here in New Zealand. But quite “tricky”, difficult, with a lot of gravel, so a lot of sweeping the first day. »

The Citroën Racing driver therefore expects to suffer a lot from his opening position on New Zealand roads and believes that the challenge will be even greater this time. “ It is possible to lose a lot on the first day. I think road position is going to be fundamental and the gaps will be huge. The tactic will be to attack on the first day, limiting the damage as much as possible. It could be a difficult rally because the weather doesn't seem to be going in the right direction for me. »

Indeed, if the rain should not disrupt the first day, therefore favoring the sweeping, it should be faded on the second and third days due to the arrival of the rain. The Frenchman fears finishing far away. “ There is a lot of dust and gravel in the stages on the first day. No matter how hard we attack, I already know that we won't make time! The next two days don't look any easier since rain is forecast. If this were confirmed, we would have the greatest difficulty making up for the time lost on the first day? »

In addition, this season, Sébastien Loeb must face increased competition. Dani Sordo was unfinished at the start of the year and Jari-Matti Latvala remains somewhat unpredictable, but drivers such as Sébastien Ogier and Petter Solberg showed that they could compete with the six-time World Champion. “ Until now, there were often two of us fighting for the championship. So we were necessarily “1” and “2” on the road. In the end, the fight remained close and we always managed to come out on top. This year, there are five of us fighting and, out of the five, there is one who starts fifth, the other eighth, that can make big differences. »

At the head of the World Rally Championship, Sébastien Loeb will try to consolidate an already comfortable lead. But the Frenchman admits that he doesn't think about his points until Sunday. “ I don't think about the championship when I start a rally. I think about my rally above all else. We think about the championship afterwards, when the rally is over and we count the points. Otherwise, I concentrate on my rally without thinking about the rest. »