LOEB SIGNS FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS
author: Andries van der Walt
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A picture by Motorpics.co.za
Sebastian Loeb
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The six times World Rally Champion, Sebastien Loeb has squashed rumours that he may be moving to Formula 1 next year by signing another three year deal with Citroën. Loeb, arguably the most successful world rally driver ever, is according to a Citroën statement quoting Olivier Quesnel, the team principal, still as hungry as ever for more victories and titles.
Loeb is currently leading the 2010 WRC Championship by 51 points from the Junior Citroën WRC driver Sebastien Ogier. According to Quesnel “his experience, his race intelligence, and his capacity to get 100%out of his cars, will be all the more crucial as we get a new car for the new season”.
Come the end of the season, Loeb may win his 7th WRC title. “My motivation and my will to win are as strong as ever”, he said. In 2011 he will be in his 11th season with Citroën.
The announcement that the new deal includes the junior Citroën WRC driver, Sebastien Ogier, puts to rest speculation that he may have been offered a drive at Ford. Ogier’s first outing as a fully fledged member of the Citroën World rally team, comes next weekend with the Rally Finland.
The young Ogier could hardly hide his excitement at the prospect of driving for the Citroën WRT. On the other hand it was bad news for Dani Sordo who had been tipped to get the second seat with the team. It is not yet certain what Sordo’s future holds and whether he will stay with Citroën. “We still have to finalise our budgets”, Quesnel said.
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A picture by Motorpics.co.za
Loeb in action
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Loeb is looking forward to driving the new Citroën DS3 car with the new 1600 turbo-charged engine that has been approved by the FIA as the new WRC car. “The new cars will make the world championship very interesting with the arrival of a new generation of cars”, Loeb said.
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