Sébastien Loeb admits that he does not feel he is ready to beat four-time World Touring Car Champion Yvan Muller yet, despite enjoying his recent tests behind the wheel of Citroën’s new touring car.
Loeb has been extensively testing the manufacturer’s new C-Elysée WTCC since summer 2013 and the team were recently seen testing at Paul Ricard in France, which will host the second WTCC round of the season.
Despite being the most successful world rally driver ever, nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb admits that the challenge ahead of himself will not by easy as he adapts to not only the different feel of a touring car but also the required strategy and approach to succeed.
“I know it will be difficult and therefore I’m working hard and trying to prepare myself to be as good as possible,” said Loeb in a press conference in France. “So far I still don’t know where I am; my goal is comparing my performance with those of my team-mates and trying to improve.”
“Sometimes driving a touring car seems quite strange, because you must learn how to keep your speed while cornering and brake earlier. In my first test I found all this very difficult and even disturbing. Now I think I am able to understand a bit better how to work with the car.
“I’m improving my driving and my feeling with the front-wheel-drive. And I enjoy it, because you need a lot of precision and have to push hard and brake late.”
Loeb also admitted that he feels that moving away from the WRC in which he made his name is the right thing for him to do, after winning nine consecutive titles and scoring 78 wins.
“Of course leaving a category in which you are on top and enjoy yourself is not something you do light-heartedly,” admitted Loeb. “But I wanted to stop with rallying; I was looking for a new challenge and was interested in racing. WTCC is also a World Championship and something I could do together with Citroën. It was the best option.”
Citroën were joined at the Paul Ricard test by Honda, who have not been testing their new car as extensively. Loeb admits that despite all of the testing mileage he and the team have clocked up, it will not be able to prepare him for the heat of battle as much as race weekend experience. The Frenchman will also be forced to share the track at the same time as his rivals and develop his racecraft – something he did not require during his rallying days.
“I’m happy with the feeling I have with the car,” added Loeb. “The feeling I have from the testing is not bad, but for sure the race weekends will be something different. You have limited time to post a qualifying lap, you must find the good feeling with the tyres, you have to fight closely with other cars. Something that I will only discover from Marrakech. I think I have improved in driving, but now I need to get used to overtaking.
“You can’t compare WTCC with rally in nearly anything, except saving the tyres. In some special stages it is important to take care of your tyres, and I was not bad on this. My driving style is not too aggressive with tyres. So I am confident I would be able to manage this, especially because our car is not so understeering as I expected. These are interesting cars to drive and it takes time to be able to go at limit.”
Loeb will be paired with one of the most successful touring car drivers of all time in Muller and hopes to learn from his Alsatian colleague.
“I’m happy to work with him, because he knows very well the category and this kind of cars,” said Loeb. “For sure sometimes it’s difficult to be compared with the best, but it helps you to understand when you make mistakes and how to improve. Of course this is a not an easy situation for myself, but I’m sure that will help me to grow up as a touring car driver. One thing is for sure: I don’t think I’m ready to beat him.”