The eighth round of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship is the World RX of France and for nine time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, its a chance to perform at his best on home ground.
Loheac is also known as the “Temple of Rallycross” to fans around the world and with this in mind, Loeb is ready for the preparation need to fine tune the evolution of the Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar that was introduced back in Sweden.
“For a French driver and for PEUGEOT, the Loheac round is obviously very important, so our objective as always is to go for the victory,” explains Loeb.
The World RX of France awaits Sebastien Loeb. Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool
“We’ll get a test just before the race, at Chateauroux in France, which should be good preparation for Loheac and we’ll use that to make some final adjustments to the set-up, although essentially the car will be in the same specification as Canada.”
With the pressure of performing in France in front of seventy thousand fans, Loeb knows that to succeed in World RX, you have to have a clean weekend and be fast in every Free Practice session, every Qualifying race and the Semi-Finals.
Loheac can be a demanding and fast track due to its layout ad the mix of concrete and tarmac to deal with. This can often challenge the setup of a World RX Supercar and it can also challenge the tyres and the need to avoid a puncture.
Loeb will race the same spec of the Peugeot 208 WRX as he did in Canada. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
“Loheac is a lot of fun to drive but there’s no particular secret to it: you’ve just got to be clean and fast everywhere and above all it’s important to get a very good start,” said the Team Peugeot Total driver.
“It’s a track that can be quite demanding on the tyres, so you need to look after them and most of all avoid getting a puncture, which is a risk on some of the big kerbs that you have there.”
