Loeb aims for endurance future

1st November 2011

By Giles Wade

Sebastien Loeb has founded his own sportscar team: Sebastien Loeb Racing. The seven-time World Champion – who is on course for an eighth title this year – has already competed at Le Mans twice, nearly winning on his debut, and has taken part in races sporadically alongside his illustrious world rally career.

Sebastien Loeb Racing is a joint venture between Loeb and his mentor Dominique Heintz: the man who put up the money for Loeb to take his first steps in rallying during the 1990s. The team will run two cars in France’s Porsche Carrera Cup and will also run one car in the single-make Formula Le Mans class of the Le Mans Series.

By 2014, the aim is to run in the Le Mans 24 Hours – probably in the LMP2 category. This coincides with the end of Loeb’s latest Citroen contract, which will keep him in the sport up to the end of 2013.

This will allow the team to get fully up to speed over the next couple of seasons, before Loeb becomes involved full-time.

“Rallying is something I still enjoy, which is why I am continuing,” said the most successful driver in the history of the sport. “But in the coming years, when I have more time available, I want to discover a new universe.”

Loeb is already thinking of expanding his team’s repertoire: he indicated that they could enter their Porsches in the GTC class of the Le Mans Series, and also enter the single-make Peugeot RCZ Cup.

“We want to build a serious and professional team, which will be there for the long haul,” he concluded.

 Loeb’s last participation in the Le Mans 24 Hours came in 2006, where he finished second in a Pescarolo-Judd. He has also tested Peugeot's diesel Le Mans racer, the 908, setting impressive lap times. More recently, he has also taken part in GT races in his native France, driving a Porsche and a Ferrari.