Loeb to Race at Le Mans

The Frenchman is teaming up with compatriots Soheil Ayari and Eric Helary in the two-car effort from Pescarolo. The other car will be raced by Emmanuel Collard, Jean-Christophe Boullion and Erik Comas.

The switch of disciplines has been agreed by Loeb's Citroen team - and the Frenchman readily accepts that there is a risk he could hurt himself and damage his WRC title ambitions.

"If the team were not stopping at the end of the season then I do not know if they would have let me run at Le Mans," said Loeb, refering to Citroen's decision to leave the sport at the end of the year.

"For sure there is a risk. If I hurt myself then that could compromise Citroen's season as well as my own. In the team, though, they understand that this is a good experiment for me and they know me sufficiently well to know that I never take ill-considered risks."

Loeb, who has previously only raced in French national events and the 2000 Nurburgring 24 Hours, will conduct his first tests at Paul Ricard next week after his latest round of WRC testing in Greece.

And although Loeb's decision to make the switch to Le Mans is currently only a one-off, he has hinted that it could open up a switch of disciplines should he fail to land a front-line seat in WRC at the end of this year.

"This is a chance to discover another thing, to take pleasure and have a little experiment in a large car that is very different from a WRC," he said.

"It is true that the future in rallying is not rosy, and one does not know too much about where that goes. This experience could be useful for me one day."