Upon defeating Sebastian Vettel in 2022, Sébastien Loeb tied fellow Frenchman Didier Auriol for the most individual Race of Champions victories with four. For 2023, he will aim to surpass Auriol as he returns to the race on 28/29 January. He will represent Team France at the Nations Cup alongside ROC newcomer Adrien Tambay.
Loeb and Auriol comprised the French delegation at the 2022 Nations Cup, where they were eliminated 3–1 by Team Nordic’s Tom Kristensen and Johan Kristoffersson in the quarter-finals. While unceremonious, Loeb got to flex his legendary rally résumé on the snow/ice of Sweden in the individual tournament when he defeated Nations Cup winners Petter and Oliver Solberg, followed by Mattias Ekström and Vettel. Loeb previously won in 2003, 2005, and 2008.
The ROC entry comes just two weeks after Loeb finished runner-up in the Dakar Rally‘s Cars overall for the second straight year. Had it not been for early setbacks, he would have enjoyed one of the greatest runs in the Rally’s history as he won seven stages including a record six in a row. Despite not taking the Rally win, he is the World Rally-Raid Championship T1 points leader thanks to the leg victories. The Rally also saw his Sébastien Loeb Racing team début a new factory partnership with Polaris, who will again bring the RZR to ROC; Loeb defeated Vettel in the final in a Polaris RZR.
The 48-year-old is also coming off winning the 2022 Extreme E championship for Team X44. He has enjoyed success in virtually every discipline that he’s run, ranging from the aforementioned to his nine World Rally Championships and two World Rallycross wins.
“I have so many good memories from the Race of Champions, going back twenty years,” said Loeb. “It’s always great to meet up with all the other drivers in such a nice atmosphere. In the racing we have to adapt to all the cars, which becomes even more complicated when you’re faced with snow and ice in Sweden. It isn’t easy going up against all the guys from the Nordic nations who know these conditions so well, so I was happy last year to find out I still have the pace. It was a fun battle with Seb in the final, and I would love to go all the way again this year. It will also be enjoyable to join up with Adrien Tambay for Team France in the ROC Nations Cup. Here’s hoping we can pull off a French double.”
Tambay, the son of two-time Formula One Grand Prix winner Patrick Tambay, won the 2022 FIA eTouring Car World Cup in a campaign that saw him win just once but only had one finish worse than second in six rounds. He defeated Ekström for the title by forty-seven points.
He raced in DTM from 2012 to 2016, after spending much of his career in the formula ladder. He also raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2020.
“I am very honoured and proud to be taking part in my first Race of Champions. It is one of the competitions I enjoyed watching on TV as a kid,” commented Tambay. “It is the only event that allows the best drivers from different series to compete against each other in a very special, sporty and friendly way at the same time. This time it will be on ice and snow, which is something I will definitely enjoy, so let’s see if I get it right against drivers who are kings of the surface. I look forward to enjoying these moments and head-to-head battles with some of the biggest legends of motorsport, including some of my childhood heroes.”
