Loeb wants Citroen to commit

The 27 year-old Frenchman secured the S1600 crown in Corsica on Sunday afternoon, but he has been the subject of WRC rumour-mongering since his amazing second overall on the Sanremo Rally in a one-off drive in a Xsara WRC.

Loeb has freely admitted that he would prefer to stay with team that has given him all his chances to date, but the Xsara WRC's limited seven-round programme next year is less attractive to a young driver desperate to gain experience.

Loeb said: "I want to stay with Citroen. For starters, I wouldn't have had so many proposals from teams if Guy (Frequelin, Citroen team boss) hadn't given me the Xsara WRC chance for Sanremo in the first place. And also I know everyone there, feel comfortable in the team and the car is clearly very good. I'm sure we'll talk about next year - and the year after, for 14 rallies - very soon."

Citroen Sport boss Guy Frequelin said: "We haven't decided our events or driver line-ups for next year. But it's true I would like Sebastien to stay and I think he wants to stay too. We haven't had time - him or me - to sit down and talk properly but now we'll have to talk."

Several WRC teams are said to have placed Loeb on their shopping lists after his Sanremo performance - most notably Mitsubishi, which reportedly offered him a full 14-round programme for 2002. But well-placed sources say Loeb is almost certain to stay put at Citroen - possibly alongside a more established name like Armin Schwarz.