TROIS-RIVIÈRES RALLYCROSS: LOEB ONCE MORE ON THE PODIUM!

The Spanish would have called it a remontada! For the eighth event of the World Rallycross Championship at Trois-Rivières, Québec, Sébastien Loeb endeavoured to come back from a shaky start and masterfully conquered the third position. This is the third consecutive podium for the Team Peugeot-Hansen driver, who has been particularly present at the front of the race recently, and the fourth in the season; proof that he will not give up before Volkswagen’s domination of the discipline. The Alsatian was out of luck in the Q1, where the track dried out to the benefit of his rivals, and in the Q2, where he could not avoid contact with a competitor who fishtailed ahead of him. His Q3 (4th) and Q4 (4th) were more representative of his level and allowed him to finish the heats in sixth position. Starting his semi-final from the inside of the second line, he finished third, and was therefore condemned to the outside of the last line in the final, from where it is nearly mission impossible to reach the podium. However, the nine-times World Rally Championship winner turned rallycross driver dug in and saw his tenacity rewarded with a third place finish. This performance also allowed him to close in on the third place of the championship, by gaining four more points.

“After having a hellish day on Saturday, when nothing favoured us, I had a great second half to the meeting,” analysed Sébastien on Sunday night. “The Q3 and Q4 were two good races with my Peugeot 208 WRX, whose balance was again quite good on this atypical track, which holds the longest straight line in the championship. In the semi-final, we maybe could have gained an extra place by going for the Joker Lap a bit later, but that’s racing… I’m also particularly satisfied to climb on the podium after starting so far out on the grid in the final. I certainly benefited from my team-mate Timmy Hansen’s mechanical failure, but even before that, I had fought well to be fourth at the first turn, to find the opening on Toomas Heikkinen and get away from him! Once again, the team gave everything and this result is a well-deserved reward for their efforts.”