Alexandre throws his toys out of the pram

1st October 2011

By Anthony Peacock

Alexandre sat on the pavement in Mulhouse. Sulking. Seriously sulking. I only know his name because of his parents continued efforts to coax him into turning around and watching.

Alexandre was having none of it.

Not even a lary skid from Henning Solberg was enough for him to take a peak.

Eventually, he spoke. And his simple words spoke volumes.

“Je n’aime pas le rallye sans Loeb,” he spat before pulling his Fan Loeb cap lower over his face and returning the sleeve of his Citroen Racing t-shirt to the corner of his mouth.

Not long after, they left.

And I suspect, post-Loeb retirement in 2013 (if he does depart the sport in just over two years), they won’t darken the World Rally Championship’s door again.

Having polled the opinion of numerous photographers and film-makers out and about, the word is that numbers are down this year. Last year’s Loeb-love in, which delivered more than 300,000 fans in an area which was previously pretty impartial to rallies and rally cars was nowhere to be seen on the streets today.

Loeb’s retirement from Rallye de France has hit this event hard. More worryingly, in the absence of God himself, his disciples have been doing a damned fine job of putting on one of the best and most exciting rallies the sport has ever produced.

From what I can see, when Loeb hangs up his helmet, it will be the end of the road for the WRC in Strasbourg.

The population of Alsace appears, understandably, to be Loeb rather than rally fans.

And, let’s not forget, just the other side of the German border, there’s a perfectly functional late-summer dash through the vineyards of the Mosel. And the difference between Mosel and Alsace in terms of plonk and sport is negligible.

But surely, I hear you cry, France must have a WRC round. Indeed it must. And maybe a return to Corsica is the perfect alternative. Or maybe we take a more forward view and use the slot for a Brazil, Russia or India.

 It’s not like France could truly cry foul, not with next season kicking off in Valence…