The French driver Sebastian Loeb, 9 times WRC champion returns in the 2019 season to the category of the Hyundai i20 WRC team.

The Frenchman who will only play 6 races of the 14th of the 2019 calendar of the World Rally Championship, will return to the category as he did in the 2018 season, but only participated in 3 rallies with the Citroen team. After a number of rumors that Loeb would return to the championship in 2019 with Citroen, it was a surprise and it was announced that the driver would run a total of 6 races, but with the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, starting with the championship rally in Monte Carlo, which will take place from January 24 to 27 and will be the opening competition of the season. The Frenchman will have as teammates the Belgian Thierry Neuville and the Finn Andreas Mikkelsen, who will contest the totality of the dates of the world championship. The Spanish driver Dani Sordo will also be at Hyundai with a limited program,

The 9-time WRC champion will test the i20 Coupe WRC a few hours after finishing his participation in the Dakar Rally, to which the team gave a statement in which they stated that they were not worried that Loeb did not have many tests, as they relied on the talent and mainly in the experience of the French in the rallies that will dispute in 2019 in the championship. Both the team, Loeb, and their colleagues do not doubt Loeb's ability, and believe that in some of the 6 races this year he will get the victory, as well as help in the development and improvement of his new team's car. Here the statements of the team:

"He has a lot of experience in this rally, he has won many times and he has always been competitive there, his lack of time with the car will not be a problem".
"Sebastien comes to the team with his experience, his confidence and his competitiveness, this will help everyone."

Loeb statistics in the WRC

Name: Sébastien Loeb

Nationality: French

Birth: February 26, 1974 (44 years old), France Haguenau, Alsace

Years in active: 1997 - present

World Championships: 9 (WRC), 1 (JWRC)

First race: Rally Critérium des Cévennes of 1997

First victory: Rally of Germany of 2002

Last victory: Catalonia Rally of 2018

Last race: Catalonia Rally of 2018

Teams: Citroën World Rally Team

Car: Citroën DS3 WRC, Citroën C3 WRC

Years: 2001-2015, 2018

Victories: 79

Podiums: 116

Scratch: 909

Titles: 9 (2004-2012)

Information of the Rally of Monte Carlo 2019.

Round 1 of 14 at the 2019 World Rally Championship.

Host country: Monaco / France

Rally base: Gap, Hautes-Alpes

date: corren24 - 27 January 2019

Start Location: Casino Square, Monaco

Finish: Casino Square, Monaco

Stages: 16 (322.81 km, 200.58 miles)

Surface: Asphalt and snow

On the other hand, Sebastian will play before the WRC dates already mentioned in this article, will run in the 2019 Dakar Rally with the private Peugeot 3008 DKR. Loeb will be one of the rivals to beat, together with Carlos Sainz, who will lead the Mini team, and for his compatriots, Stéphane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres, who will drive a buggy similar to the Spanish one.

The 2019 Dakar Rally will be the forty-first edition of the rally raid race. It will take place from January 6 to January 17, 2019, for 11 consecutive times in our continent, mainly in South America. The 2019 edition will be given 100% in Peru, starting in Lima and closing in the same location.

Information about the Dakar rally 2019.

Category: Rally raid

Date: 6 Jan 2019 - Jan 17 2019

Location: Peru

Scope: International

Surface: Earth and sand

Sections: 10

Timeline: Dakar Rally of 2019

UNTIL A NEXT OPPORTUNITY!

Without more to say, says goodbye to you @franz54.

Best regards!

Happy New Year 2019 for everyone in the community.