Reigning World Rally Championship champion Sebastien Loeb will become the latest rally star to make a temporary switch to circuit racing when he competes in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race on June 18-19. The Citroen ace will partner fellow Frenchman Soheil Ayari and Eric Helary in the team run by Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo.
Loeb will drive one of two Playstation-backed Pescarolo-Judds entered in the leading LMP1 sportscar class of the fabled endurance event. Franc Montagny, Stephane Ortelli and Jean-Marc Gounon will drive the team's other entry. Although Loeb has some limited experience of circuit racing in the MG Trophy, Formula France and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, this will be his debut at sportscar racing's top level. He has already tested the Pescarolo-Judd at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France.
"This is an opportunity to do something very different from driving a WRC car," Loeb said. "It's too early to say how I'll do, because I've got a lot to learn. The hardest thing is adapting to the high cornering speeds. I'm not accustomed to taking corners at 280kph. With the grip and aerodynamics, it is in another world. Braking is very different. In the WRC, it's a balance between the braking and acceleration. On the circuit, the only resemblance is the use of left-foot braking."
Loeb will drive the car at Paul Ricard again next week, before testing for Citroen in Greece in preparation for the upcoming hot-weather Mediterranean gravel events. Loeb will also need to be present to do 10 laps during the pre-Le Mans test event on June 4-5, which will mean rushing from the end of the Rally of Turkey to be at Le Mans. Loeb hasn't ruled out a permanent move to sportscar racing if he does well in the event. Citroen - with whom Loeb has spent most of his career - is pulling out of the WRC at the end of the year.
Loeb is following in the footsteps of 1995 world champion Colin McRae, who raced at Le Mans last year in a Ferrari 360, run by the same Prodrive concern which prepares and runs Subaru's works WRC cars. Ex-Formula 1 driver Stephane Sarrazin, who now drives for Subaru in the World Rally Championship, is tipped to drive one of the Prodrive-run Aston Martins at Le Mans this year. He drove for the team at the Sebring 12 Hours in February. Double world champion Carlos Sainz tested Toyota's GT1 sportscar in 1998, but fell short of racing it at Le Mans.
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