The Lydden Hill circuit holds a wealth of rallycross history – this is where the first race in the discipline took place, in 1967. Fifty years on, the fifth event of the FIA World Rallycross Championship was hosted in the British town, a few miles off the coast of the Channel. Sébastien Loeb knows that, in a notoriously intractable discipline with short and intense races, it is important to take the lead early. Having finished the test drives within the same second as the fastest competitors, the Peugeot Sport driver upped the ante throughout the four qualifying heats before heading to the knockout stages. The Alsatian started his semi-final from the second line, and mastered a timely attack while avoiding the pitfalls of very deteriorated portions of the dirt track. Incisive in his driving, “Seb” came up on Mattias Ekström and finished his semi in the second position. Starting from the outside of the second line in the final, the Peugeot 208 WRX driver decided to launch straight into the Joker lap to best his opponents. The strategy could have been a winner, but issues with an overheating engine prevented Sébastien Loeb from using the full power of his 208 WRX. Fourth on the finish line, the Alsatian driver nevertheless scored significant points for the World Championship.
“It’s a mixed bag of results,” Sébastien Loeb noted after the finish. “We fought well during the qualifying heats, except for the Q4, where I was stuck in the traffic. We worked on the set-up of the 208 WRX to have better traction on the ‘busted up’ parts, and found a good compromise. In the semis, I started third and managed a well-executed overtake of Mattias Ekström, who always defends his spot to the end. In the final, my plan was to align my race with the drivers on the first line, to reach for a podium place. Unfortunately I had to deal with engine power loss, but managed to salvage the fourth place. The next event will be the Rallye du Chablais, a race ‘for pleasure’ that Séverine and I will take part in next weekend.”