Loeb, Sébastien

Sébastien Loeb, (born February 26, 1974, Haguenau, Bas Rhin, France), French race-car driver who was widely considered to be the greatest rally racer of all time, having won a record nine World Rally Championship (WRC) titles (2004–12).

After winning five gold medals at the French national gymnastics championships by the time he was 15, Loeb switched to auto racing. In 1995 he began rally driving, and in 1998, paired with codriver Daniel Elena of Monaco, he started racing in the French Citroën Saxo Trophy Series, winning twice that season before taking the title the following year. In 2000 Loeb won the two-wheel-drive-class French gravel championship before capturing the Super 1600 class of the Junior WRC in 2001.

In the 2002 season, Loeb’s first as a WRC driver with the Citroën Total World Rally Team, he was runner-up in his first race and won his second, the Rally of Germany. During his first full season, in 2003, he captured three events to finish just one point behind Petter Solberg of Norway. That served as the springboard to Loeb’s preeminence in the sport. He won his first driver’s championship in 2004 by tying the WRC season record with six victories, which enabled him to easily beat Solberg for the title. Loeb proved to be even more dominant the next season, posting 10 victories—while also becoming the first driver to win six in a row—and winning the title by 56 points to break a 25-year-old record.

In 2006 Loeb raced for the private team Citroën Xsara WRC and broke the record of 26 career WRC victories set by Carlos Sainz of Spain, totaling eight more wins that season en route to a third consecutive drivers’ title, despite missing the last four rounds of the championship because of a broken shoulder. Having made his debut at the famous Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance just the previous year, the versatile Loeb earned a second-place finish in the event in 2006. In 2007 he returned to Citroën Total and drove the new C4 WRC, but learning to handle a new car did not prevent him from winning eight events and his fourth consecutive WRC crown.

Loeb—with Elena still at his side after a decade’s partnership—took his dominance to another level in 2008, setting records with 11 wins in one season and a fifth WRC title (the previous record of four was jointly held by Finland’s Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen). In 2009 he added to his record championship tally in dramatic fashion, taking first place in the final race of the season to narrowly edge Mikko Hirvonen of Finland for yet another WRC title. Loeb won his seventh championship in 2010 after triumphing in eight races that season, which included his noteworthy 60th career win, a championship-clinching victory at the Rally of France that ended on the streets of his hometown, Haguenau. Loeb’s eighth championship, in 2011, broke his tie with Formula One driver Michael Schumacher for the most top professional titles in auto-racing history. After winning his ninth championship in 2012, Loeb retired from full-time rallying, only entering select WRC events. In 2022 he notably won the Monte Carlo Rally, becoming the oldest driver to win a WRC race. It was also his 80th WRC victory and his first race with codriver Isabelle Galmiche.

In 2014 Loeb also began competing on the touring-car circuit. He was awarded the Legion of Honour in 2009.