Sébastien Loeb

Sébastien Loeb (French pronunciation: [sebastjɛ̃ lœb]; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He holds several other WRC records, including most event wins, most podium finishes and most stage wins. Loeb retired from full time WRC participation at the end of 2012. He currently drives part time in the WRC for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, and full time in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for Bahrain Raid Xtreme.

Originally a gymnast, Loeb was a four time Champion of Alsace and one time champion of the French Grand East. He switched to rallying in 1995 and won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001. Signed by the Citroën World Rally Team for the 2002 season, he and co-driver Daniel Elena took their maiden WRC win that same year at the Rallye Deutschland. After finishing runner-up to Petter Solberg by one point in 2003, Loeb took his first drivers' title in 2004. Continuing with Citroën, he went on to take a record ninth consecutive world title in 2012. Loeb is a tarmac expert, having won all but three of the WRC rallies on that surface in which he has participated between 2005 and 2013. In 2018, Loeb won the Spanish round of that year's championship, in a rare entry six years after his retirement as a full-time WRC driver.

Loeb made his debut at the Dakar Rally in 2016 and has participated in it every year since bar 2020. He has a best finish of second in 2017, 2022 and 2023. Besides his success in rallying, Loeb is a four-time winner at the Race of Champions, after taking home the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and the title "Champion of Champions" in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2022. In 2004, he won the Nations' Cup for France with Jean Alesi. In 2006, he finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Loeb was named the French Sportsman of the Year in 2007 and 2009, and made knight of the Legion of Honour (Légion d'honneur) in 2009. In 2012, he won the rallycross final in his first appearance at X Games XVIII. The same year, Loeb founded his own motorsports team, Sébastien Loeb Racing; which participates in various racing series. The following year, he participated in the FIA GT Series for Loeb Racing and scored four wins and finished fourth overall. In 2014 and 2015 he had a successful stint in the World Touring Car Championship, scoring six wins in total and with a best finish of third overall in both seasons. From 2016 to 2018 he also participated in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, with two wins and a best position of fourth overall.

In 2021, he tested the Ford Puma Rally1 car several times, before joining the M-Sport Ford WRT for a part-time drive in the 2022 WRC season. He took his 80th WRC victory at the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally, barely a week after finishing second at the 2022 Dakar Rally. Loeb later also won the 2022 Extreme E Championship alongside Cristina Gutiérrez; for Lewis Hamilton's Team X44. Loeb has also competed in other motorsports like the GT World Challenge Europe, the Porsche Supercup, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Andros Trophy and other racing categories across many disciplines. Loeb is the only racing driver to win an event in four different FIA-affiliated world championships since winning the Andalucía Rally in 2022.