Why is Loeb doing the Dakar?

Sebastien Loeb has never been known as the most lively of chaps when it comes to an early start.

Shaving goes out of the window and the day's first espresso is usually taken in the minibus on the way to the service park.

And then there's the Safari. He only did one, in 2002, finished fifth and didn't seem overly enamoured with the whole 'tearing up the rift valley for days on end' thing.

So... Dakar?

I remember asking Loeb about Dakar when his former team-mate Carlos Sainz made the move to cross-country rallying in 2006. Would he fancy that?

No. There was a smile, a reference to the early starts and a hint that, generally, it was all a bit too much like hard work.

And yet here we are: the day before Peugeot flies its quartet of 2008 DKRs to South America, with a nine-time world champion bedding the brakes in on the #314 car. The one with his name on it.

Loeb finds himself up against Hirvonen again

Interestingly, and ironically, starting behind him on the road is a certain Mikko Hirvonen. So, not that much has changed in a decade.

But the big question for Loeb has to be: why?

There's a predictable shrug, and response: why not?

It's certainly not something that's been on the horizon since he knocked the full-time WRC on the head in 2012.

"I never really thought to do Dakar before 2014," he says.

"The first contact with Peugeot was [in 2014], but it was too early in my WTCC programme. I couldn't do everything together.

"I had a lot of work in WTCC to improve my driving and I didn't want any confusion. This was the first year I had the opportunity and the motivation to do Dakar."

Another reason for the early reluctance was the likely necessity to break up world rallying's most successful and celebrated partnership.

Between them, Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena have redefined what can be achieved in a rally car. They started 169 rallies together over 16 years and claimed 78 wins. But whether that partnership would - or should - transfer to the different demands of the Dakar was uncertain.

"Daniel is a close friend," says Loeb. "We did a lot together and have a lot of good memories. To share something new with a co-driver, for sure I would prefer to share it with him.

Loeb has a lot of new things to get used to

"First, I wanted an experienced co-driver, but it was not easy to find one of the best immediately and to have him in the car.

"I started to think a bit more and I said, 'OK, maybe I can give the chance to Daniel to do the test with me and to check how it's going; how he's improving and understanding the new job'.

"It's completely new for him, totally different from WRC.

"Finally, it went quite well and we started to build our relationship in the car and it was working like I expected. I had no reason to complain.

"The way he is giving me the notes, the way he's improving, his motivation - it shows he deserves the place."

But surely starting something so new is going to test that friendship to the limit?

"I don't think this will test the friendship," says Loeb. "I think it is stronger than that.

"And he would understand if it's going wrong. If we imagine that I'm on the pace but we get lost three times in each stage and we lose everything... or in the last two or three stages we make even more mistakes than in the first one because he is not up to standard, then I imagine he would understand if I decide to change for the future.

"But that's not the way I want to go. I don't imagine he's not able to do it. We will not have the experience, but I hope we will understand quickly."

Loeb's adaptability is well known. Remember, this is the same man who, 10 years ago, won Rally Turkey in his Citroen Xsara WRC, then skipped the podium celebrations to hop on a plane from Antalya to the middle of France where he stepped into a Pescarolo-Judd to complete Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying in the dark.

Then there was that brief foray into Formula 1 and winter testing with Red Bull, when Loeb turned 82 laps of Barcelona and placed an RB4 eighth quickest - just two tenths down on Robert Kubica.

Loeb's not a man who gets stressed - it'll take more than the prospect of a 16-day marathon rally to do that.

"I have only to drive. Driving is driving, I drive what I can see," he says.

"For the rest, the one who has to learn the most is Daniel. It's much newer for him on the navigation side."

Loeb's non-WRC achievements already include conquering Pikes Peak two years ago

A troubled cross-country debut on the Morocco Rally - where Loeb and Elena finished, but not without their problems - and a few miles of testing have given some insight into what the road through the Andes from Argentina to Bolivia and back might bring.

"In Dakar," Loeb says, "you need to feel to read the road. Most of the time you have no information, you just have to look and see when to push.

"The first big change for me was to look a long way away and not right in front of the car like on [normal] rallies.

"You have to anticipate everything in Dakar and the concentration will be a lot - especially when you are arriving at things you didn't see before at 180km/h."

Clearly, Loeb has reached the point in his career where he wants to do different stuff.

A highlight remains Pikes Peak with Peugeot two years ago, when he smashed the record for the 12-mile mountain run in Colorado.

Interestingly, the early mornings on Dakar don't come close to the 0230 alarm calls he endured in practice for that event.

"Dakar's a new experience and I like to change a bit," he says. "I had a long career in rallies and afterwards I wanted to discover something new in racing, so I went to WTCC with Citroen and that was the best moment to discover professional racing. I did this for two years and now I have this other chance with Peugeot."

So, it's a challenge. That's why Dakar.

The cross country adventure began with a troubled Morocco Rally last year

"And it's the adventure. At the start of the stage, you don't know where you are going. When you go, it can be a 500km section; you know you're in the car and in the stage for a good part of the day and pushing all of the time.

"I hope I like it."

Being one of the most competitive souls on the planet, he'll like it a lot more if he's winning - something Peugeot team-mate Sainz thinks he can do, especially given the relative absence of sand racing and dune navigation on this year's route.

A good thing for Loeb is that he has Sainz and 11-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel alongside him in the team to measure himself against. What does he think?

Loeb says: "I never compared my rhythm to another driver, to the competition or to anybody in the same car, so I have no idea what my pace is like.

"Even in the test, I didn't check, I didn't look. I just wanted to drive with my feeling. I feel quite good, I feel the rhythm is not bad.

"I don't know my speed. And I don't know how will Daniel be. I just hope when everything is going well, we are in the right rhythm."

Ordinarily, it's hard to imagine Loeb missing a beat, but Dakar's such a different tune to play, anything could happen as Peugeot's South American rookies head west over the next fortnight.

One thing is certain: they're in for that adventure Loeb's looking for.

The December 31 issue of Autosport magazine contains further analysis of Peugeot and Sebastien Loeb's preparations for the challenge of Dakar 2016