Red Bull Motorsports
Touring Car
Sébastien Loeb’s many, many debuts
After a victorious first weekend in the WTCC, we take a look at Loeb’s other debut performances.
WTCC: A new challenge for Loeb
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JWRC
Debut: 2001 Rally Catalunya Finished: 1st
Sébastien Loebarrived in the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001 and became the series’ first champion. Loeb won on his debut at Rally de Catalunya and went on to win every JWRC rally he took part in that season.
Loeb's 2002 victory at Monte was short-lived
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WRC
Debut: 2002 Monte Carlo Rally Finished: 2nd
While Loeb had competed in a number of WRCevents before, the 2002 season was his first year as a full-time WRC driver. At the opening rally in Monte Carlo, Loeb provisionally won the event before receiving a two-minute penalty for an illegal tyre change. The penalty promoted Subaru's Tommi Mäkinen into the top spot and Loeb had to settle for second.
Disappointing Le Mans debut
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Le Mans 24 Hours
Debut: 2005 Finished: DNF (29th)
In 2005, Loeb made his first venture outside of rallying when he competed in the world’s most prestigious sports car race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Racing for Pescarolo Sport, his Le Mans debut was marred with incidents and he would retire in a disappointing 29th place. A year later, he returned to Le Mans and finished second between the two favoured Audi R10s.
Loeb drove the RB4 in 2008 winter testing
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Formula One
Debut: 2008 Barcelona Winter Test Finished: 8th
While Loeb has tested a Formula One car on a number of occasions, it was Infiniti Red Bull Racing that gave the Frenchman a chance to compete in an official session. During an official Formula One winter test in Barcelona, Loeb took the 2008 RB4 to an impressive eighth of 17 drivers.
X Games
Debut: 2012 Finished: 1st
In 2012, Loeb added an X Games gold medal to his long list of achievements after a victory in his very first appearance at the event. The Frenchman had tough competition from Rallycrosslegends like Travis Pastrana and Ken Block, but despite everything, the WRC champion still took a dominant win.
Qualifying race victory in his FIA GT Series debut
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FIA GT Series
Debut: 2013 GT Nogaro Finished: 1st (Qualifying Race) 12th (Championship Race)
While competing part-time in the WRC, Loeb took part in his first track racing championship, the FIA GT Series. Driving for Sébastien Loeb Racing in a McLaren MP4-12C, he took victory in his very first race when he won the qualifying race at the opening round in Nogaro, France. Two more qualifying race victories followed as well as a first championship race win in Spain.
5 min
Pikes Peak: Sebastien Loeb's Race to the Clouds
Check out how Sebastien Loeb and Peugeot conquered Pikes Peak in the awesome 208 T16 Pikes Peak.
Pikes Peak
Debut: 2013 Finished: 1st
Loeb was now making a bit of a habit of winning on his debuts and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was no exception. Driving a Peugeot 208 T16, he smashed the world record, setting a time of 8:13:878, over a minute and a half clear of the previous record.
2 min
Scorpion Masters 2013 review
Sebastien Loeb, Johnny Aubert and Ivan Cervantes star in the French motorcycle challenge.
Scorpion Masters
Debut: 2013 Finished: 13th
While Loeb tries just about anything with four wheels, he made his two wheel event debut at the 2013 Scorpion Masters, an event at the Paul Ricard circuit that combines supermoto, trails, enduro and circuit racing. The Frenchman finished 13th of 28 riders, which included Endurolegends like Johnny Aubert, Iván Cervantes and David Knight.
Victory is mine: Loeb wins on his WTCC debut
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WTCC
Debut: 2014 Race of Morocco Finished: 2nd (Race One) 1st (Race Two)
While the new Citroën Racing team were favourites going into the FIA World Touring Car Championship, it wasn’t going to be easy for Loeb with four-time WTCC champion, Yvan Muller as a team-mate. At the first round in Morocco, Loeb finish second in a formation 1-2-3 during race one but scored a maiden victory in race two after carving his way through the field during the reverse-grid race.
