Six-time world champion to put 2008 Jordan ‘incident’ behind him to claim title
Amman, Jordan: Six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb has vowed to put one of the most bizarre episodes of his illustrious career behind him as he bids to win next month’s Jordan Rally, an event which he has hailed as “world-class”.
Loeb crashed out in extraordinary circumstances on a road section after a head-on collision with Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach, allowing Mikko Hirvonen to claim the first Jordan Rally World Rally Championship (WRC) title, and he is focused on claiming one of the few titles to have eluded him from April 1-3.
“It was a stupid accident,” said the Frenchman, who will once again pilot a Citroen C4 WRC car. “Let’s not come back to that. We have explained it so many times and it’s now far behind us.”
Despite the incident, Loeb has fond memories of his first visit to Jordan and has vowed to deliver this time around to his huge army of Arab fans.
“Jordan was a very well organised event. It was a nice location with good stages. A world-class event. I really hope to see the fans supporting us in Jordan at the service park and in the stages.”
It has been a blistering start to the season so far for Loeb. He missed out on the snow of Sweden to Hirvonen but bounced back last week with victory in Mexico to top the standings. Round three in Jordan is set to provide another intriguing chapter in the battle between the two.
“Yes it was a close battle last season (Loeb winning the championship by a single point) and this year I think it will be tight again,” he declared. “Mikko is very consistent, fast everywhere and very strong minded. I will try to keep my title of course but, for sure, Mikko will be my straight rival.”
The championship has come alive this season with the introduction of 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen, and Loeb confesses that the thought of proving himself in another discipline of motorsport is appealing.
“It’s been great to see big names like his coming to our sport and a positive impact on the generated coverage. I was offered last year to compete in a F1 Grand Prix but couldn’t do it in the end because I could not obtain a super license. I have never really thought about something like Nascar.”
Loeb, Hirvonen and Raikkonen head a star studded cast of the world’s top drivers who will rub shoulders with the best that the Arab World has to offer.
The 2010 FIA Jordan Rally WRC gets into gear on April 1st at the spectacular Roman ruins of Jerash before three days of intense competition ensue on 346kms of special strages in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea areas. The teams will be based at the Dead Sea on a specially-created service park.
A Facebook Group is up-and-running and a full length exclusive Q&A with Loeb has been distributed exclusively to its 1,500 members.