4. The old master is back…
Yes, and then there is Loeb. Wasn’t he supposed to have retired by now? The truth is for all his other campaigns in other branches of motor sport, the WRC remains the great Frenchman’s first love – and at 44, he cannot leave it alone.
A brilliant victory on Rally Spain last year, his 79th in the WRC, proved conclusively what we already knew: Loeb has still got it.
This week he returns from his latest Dakar Rally exploits with Peugeot to tackle the Monte once more – but shock: not for Citroën. With old nemesis Ogier now in place (they aren’t exactly mates), Loeb has joined Hyundai for a six-rally campaign.
That limitation means a 10th title is out of the question, but that’s not Loeb’s motivation now. He clearly rallies because he loves it, and six is enough for him to get his fix whilst also helping Hyundai’s bid for a first manufacturers’ crown – and potentially be a spoiler to Ogier’s hopes of matching and surpassing his monumental WRC record.
That alone offers a recipe for a classic WRC season, but the ingredients are so much richer. Catch it on BT Sport and via wrc.com. We’ve got a feeling it’s going to be epic.