Sébastien Loeb: “A complicated weekend”

The last visit to Sweden of Sébastien Loeb dates back to 2013 with Citroën (2nd) and the 2019 edition of rally Nordic will not have been as successful for the nine-time world champion in accounting terms.

Seventh at the finish this Sunday, the Alsatian nevertheless scores important points for Hyundai Motorsport, and completes the solid overall result of the Korean brand with third place in Thierry Neuville and the fourth for Andreas Mikkelsen.

Enough to allow Hyundai to only be one unit behind the Toyota Gazoo Racing in the Manufacturers ranking, the Japanese brand having won with Ott Tänak. On a personal level, Loeb prefers to retain the experience acquired behind the wheel of the i20 Coupe WRC.

« This weekend was complicated, with many ups and downs, highlights the former Citroën driver who discovered the majority of the course unlike his opponents.

I am happy to have reached the end of the rally. We achieved good times during the race and we were able to learn a lot more about the Hyundai i20, which will be very useful for the future.

Ultimately, looking at these positives, it was a satisfying weekend, but there is still more to do. »

It now remains to be seen when the Loeb – Elena tandem will return to the wheel of the Korean car, with the rest of the six-race program in 2019 still officially unknown to this day.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Swedish Rally, produced by our special correspondent, in issue 2204 of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday evening in digital version and from this Thursday on newsstands.