Why Loeb has joined forces with an old enemy for Dakar

Sebastien Loeb remains as committed as ever after 19 years at the top level. Since returning part-time with Citroen to the World Rally Championship in 2018 and continuing in a third Hyundai for the past two seasons, the nine-time champion has managed to add a victory and a further two podiums to his tally - which at 79 and 119 respectively will not be surpassed by Sebastien Ogier (48 and 83 respectively) before he hangs up his helmet next year.

And now, having spent much of his prime years with Citroen competing against Prodrive-run Subarus in the WRC, Loeb has joined forces with the British outfit for its fresh assault on the Dakar Rally with the Bahrain Raid Xtreme project. Together with his long-time co-driver Daniel Elena, Loeb will be making his fifth start in the event when it gets underway on 3 January in Saudi Arabia, and is anxious to go one better than the second place he managed in 2017.

Following his first desert test behind the wheel of the BRX T1 4x4 in which they'll tackle the Saudi dunes, Loeb spoke to Autosport in a wide-ranging Q&A about his first impressions of the car, the pitch from Prodrive that convinced him to sign on the dotted line and his continued motivation to succeed at the age of 46.

What led you to join a new Dakar Rally project?

Well, each time that I did the Dakar Rally, at the end... sometimes I was disappointed, sometimes I was happy, but afterwards when I think what I did, it's always an incredible adventure. I saw some landscapes that I would never have seen if I didn't do this race. It's a kind of adventure that you share with your team, your co-driver... It's a nice experience that I enjoy.

Now it's been two years since I decided to go back to WRC - I had a great opportunity with Hyundai in the new cars, I enjoyed it a lot, but I think it was also time again to retire from WRC, as it's complicated to do only half a season like this with only a little test and be competitive in these conditions.

So I think it was a new motivation again to come back to the Dakar. I was interested in the project, I had good contacts, good propositions with different teams, and finally I decided to go with Prodrive, with Bahrain Raid Xtreme Team, because the presentation they made me, how the car is looking and the motivation they have about this project were exciting.

Why did you decide to be involved in a new project from zero and not opt for other teams more established in the discipline, such as Toyota?

Why? For sure, at first I was interested in going to a team with experience like Toyota or go back with a [private] team with a Peugeot car, that we know how it works, but Prodrive really wanted to show me the project. I went there and after seeing the presentation and how the car is made, with lots of work on the centre of gravity, I realised that if I have to do a car, I would think in exactly the same way. I didn't know how to do it better to have an efficient car.

"It's the only race that I did where you have that part of adventure and where you discover some amazing places that you will never see anywhere else" Sebastien Loeb

I saw a lot of motivation too, a big factory, with a lot of possibilities to work and create new parts. I was really impressed about how serious this project looked, and then I think it could be interesting to start from zero with a new team like this, to build the car around me and to do it like I want. Maybe it was the best solution, despite knowing it can be tricky in the first year, that we have still a lot of work to do.

When did you decide on Prodrive?

Not for some months. Before I saw the project seriously, I was hesitating quite a long time. But from the point I went there [Prodrive's Banbury HQ] and saw everything, when I came back I was nearly sure that it was what I wanted. I was convinced when I was in the factory. I think it was maybe just after the first lockdown.

You said in 2018 after Peugeot's exit that time should pass until you would compete again on the Dakar, but in 2019 you returned and now again. What does the rally mean to you?

It's the only race that I did where you have that part of adventure and where you discover some amazing places that you will never see anywhere else. I was very competitive last Dakar I did [he finished third with a private Peugeot 3008 DKR run by PH Sport]. We were unlucky sometimes, we had some troubles, and things like that, but on the performance side I had a very good feeling with the car, I was able to push and to do the best times in the stages several times [he won four stages in Dakar 2019]. But I didn't win. That is also a motivation that I had to come back and to try to do it again.

You have a new team-mate with Nani Roma [who won the Dakar on bikes in 2004, and for cars in 2014]. How has the relationship with him begun?

I think we have the same feedback about the car. Nani is someone that I know from the past. We've never worked really together, but we saw each other a few times around the rallies and he is always someone that I like. He is simple, he is normal, he is very motivated and has a lot of experience, so we can share a lot of things and I think we can do a really good job together. So I'm happy to work with Nani in this project.

You've driven three different cars in rally raids after your four participations in Dakar, if we take into account the Maxi version of the Peugeot 3008 DKR. What has surprised you the most about this BRX T1?

The Peugeot 2008 DKR, I think it's better we forget about it [he laughs]. Then the [RWD] 3008 DKR and the 3008 DKR Maxi, on the performance I think there wasn't a big difference. With the new car the biggest difference is that it's a 4x4 one, so all the regulation is different. It's a lot of advantage for the buggy in some conditions, with their suspension travel, with the lowest weight, their bigger wheels, they can adjust the tyre pressure from the cockpit. So if it's rough, camel grass, dunes, very fast section is always good for the buggy. I'm discovering all of this in the 4x4. I have the feeling that the suspension still works well; it's not the same travel, but the strong point of this car is the balance and the handling.

When you're on gravel tracks like rally roads, it's much better and much more precise to drive this car. It's a compromise, I think. What can make the difference is also the type of rally. If the rally is only very fast, with lots of dunes and rough sections, it would be better for the buggy. If you have some tracks, the 4x4 can perform better.

The feeling with the car is really nice, I enjoy more driving this one than driving the buggy. When you are in some little tracks you have lots of fun in the car and you can really push it hard. It's difficult to analyse now what would be better. We have a good car, but we'll see how it is compared with the buggy in the Dakar.

So you have to adapt your own driving style a bit less than in the past with this car?

Yes. On the driving side, I had not really to change my driving style for the tracks, but I had to adapt it in the dunes, because I was used to driving a two-wheel-drive buggy there, and now with a narrow tyre with a lot of pressure you can go down in the sand quite easily, but you have four-wheel drive to escape the bad situations. It's a different approach in the dunes - I have to get used to it, for sure, but at the end it's going well. I'm confident we can achieve something good if we don't have any big trouble during the Dakar.

How well has the testing in the Middle East gone?

First we tried to set up the car, to find the best compromise that we can before doing a lot of kilometres. We did that, and we have also had some little problems that stopped us during the test, so we couldn't always do exactly what we wanted. But at the end, the problems we had are always nearly the same, and it's something we'll get solved quite easily.

"We are not going there to be behind. I always want to win, so the goal is to do our best, to be ready and to be able to compete" Sebastien Loeb

Overall, I was happy about the performance of the car, about the solidity, the reliability. We could have broken the gearbox, the engine, different things, but it didn't happen. There was some transmission stuff or things like this that got broken sometimes. I'm quite confident that in the next test in December, we will have all the package for Dakar and I'm quite confident that it won't break a lot.

The car is very compact, so that makes it quite agile, nice to drive. I'm quite confident we will do something good. Maybe the first year we know it is always complicated. I think no one came to Dakar on their first year and won, but we are working hard and at the moment it's not so bad.

Do you believe it is already possible to compete against the two established teams, Mini X-Raid and Toyota, in January?

I hope so. We are not going there to be behind. I always want to win, so the goal is to do our best, to be ready and to be able to compete. Then, like I said, we haven't been able to compare directly to another car [in performance] and we don't have a lot of kilometres, so it's a bit difficult to know.

With all this chaos with COVID, which has limited races and tests for everyone, maybe Prodrive is playing in a more equalised field...

Yeah, for sure. But if you look at the Toyota or the Mini, they have been competing for years in the Dakar, so they know all the key points of the competition. For us it's a bit different - that's why we're trying to drive a lot and to test a lot, now that it's possible to go and test in the desert. The project had a little delay because of the pandemic, so now that we are able to drive the car, we are trying to do it as much as possible.

Is there anything from the WRC that you can use on the Dakar too, or do you have to reset yourself 100%?

I think the experience of driving in WRC is always good, because you need to be on the top all the time, it's no margin, it's on the limit every time. For me it helps to keep thinking on the driving, to keep the feeling, and being on the limit when you want. The fact that I have been driving this year in WRC has benefited me in these kind of things.

After 19 seasons as a professional rally driver, where do you find the spark that starts the fire, the motivation?

It's my life. It's my life to do rallying, the competition is my life and today I don't feel old and still enjoy it. Now with this new challenge, I'm even more excited, because I know we try to work all together to bring a new project. And at the end it's me and Daniel in the car who need to work to achieve the goals, so all this preparation and the way we are doing it... I don't need to find motivation, I like what I do. When I'm sitting in the car I want to be the fastest guy out there. That's my natural motivation.

You have had a Dakar legend as a team-mate in the form of Stephane Peterhansel [13-time Dakar winner]. What have you learned from him, especially after your amazing battle in 2017?

When I was driving with Peugeot all my team-mates were strong and had a lot of experience - not only Peterhansel, also Carlos Sainz was driving with me. For sure, I had some things to learn from them. It was more general stuff. When you were discussing things together I understood some things. For the rest, I had to build my own experience. But for me and Daniel it was a benefit to work with some very experienced drivers like them.

You will race this year against Sainz again. He took his third Dakar win last January. How much has he surprised you?

I think he is one of the drivers today in Dakar who is pushing the most. He still has this aggressive driving style from WRC; he's always pushing on the limit all the way as he can. And if the co-driver is doing a good job, I'm confident he can still continue to win. He is one of the best drivers in the Dakar. I was happy for him this year, as he is not so young anymore and still to have this fighting spirit he has is just incredible.

Will he be your main rival this time?

The main rival will be myself, my co-driver and the car [at the start]. Then, if Carlos can be the main rival at the end, for sure I will be happy. It would mean that we will be in the game and that's what we need to work for. I hope we'll be able to compete with them.

And after Dakar, where will we see you?

Well, I know what I will do next year after Dakar [laughs].

Maybe Extreme E?

I don't know. I cannot say what is the plan, but you will know it soon. I have one.