Photo: JM Sport/Sebastien Loeb Racing on Facebook
Back in the 1990s, Peugeot’s factory team used the 306 Maxi to compete in the World Rally Championship.
The compact model was rather successful in its day, but did not match the success of the leading teams at the time, when the sport was dominated by the likes of Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Subaru.
Peugeot’s 306 did win the Danish Touring Car Championship for three years in a row, and accomplished the same feat in the Asian Touring Car Series. It was replaced by the more successful 206 WRC, which was led to victory by drivers like Marcus Gronholm, Richard Burns, and Petter Solberg.
Peugeot’s success in the sport was then interrupted by a young rising star who was at the wheel of a product from its sister brand, Citroen. The driver was Sebastien Loeb, and he became a legend in the sport with nine consecutive world champion titles.
He went on to set a record at Pikes Peak, and also pursued a full season in the FIA GT Series and two seasons in the World Touring Car Championship.
These days, Loeb likes to participate in local events in France, which are part of the country’s national rally championship. He races with his wife, Severine Loeb, who takes the place of Daniel Elena, his usual co-driver, in these “leisure” races he does between participating in the Dakar Rally and other activities.
This weekend, Sebastien Loeb and his spouse participated in the 29th Rallye National de Haute-Provence. He managed to win with a lead of over 30 seconds while using a car that was launched two decades ago. Team Loeb defeated competitors in modern cars like the Ford Fiesta WRC, which finished in second place.
This rally had a total stage length of 116,02 kilometers, and over 140 crews were signed up to race. Loeb finished it in a total time of one hour, five seconds, and 46 hundreds of a second. The competitors who followed him were 33, and 38 seconds after him in much faster cars.
For the fun of the comparison, the second-fastest Peugeot 306 Maxi finished in sixth place, and was four minutes and 46 seconds behind Loeb. One could only wonder what would happen if the French gymnast would return to the WRC to measure up against the current leaders of the series.
Peugeot’s 306 did win the Danish Touring Car Championship for three years in a row, and accomplished the same feat in the Asian Touring Car Series. It was replaced by the more successful 206 WRC, which was led to victory by drivers like Marcus Gronholm, Richard Burns, and Petter Solberg.
Peugeot’s success in the sport was then interrupted by a young rising star who was at the wheel of a product from its sister brand, Citroen. The driver was Sebastien Loeb, and he became a legend in the sport with nine consecutive world champion titles.
He went on to set a record at Pikes Peak, and also pursued a full season in the FIA GT Series and two seasons in the World Touring Car Championship.
These days, Loeb likes to participate in local events in France, which are part of the country’s national rally championship. He races with his wife, Severine Loeb, who takes the place of Daniel Elena, his usual co-driver, in these “leisure” races he does between participating in the Dakar Rally and other activities.
This weekend, Sebastien Loeb and his spouse participated in the 29th Rallye National de Haute-Provence. He managed to win with a lead of over 30 seconds while using a car that was launched two decades ago. Team Loeb defeated competitors in modern cars like the Ford Fiesta WRC, which finished in second place.
This rally had a total stage length of 116,02 kilometers, and over 140 crews were signed up to race. Loeb finished it in a total time of one hour, five seconds, and 46 hundreds of a second. The competitors who followed him were 33, and 38 seconds after him in much faster cars.
For the fun of the comparison, the second-fastest Peugeot 306 Maxi finished in sixth place, and was four minutes and 46 seconds behind Loeb. One could only wonder what would happen if the French gymnast would return to the WRC to measure up against the current leaders of the series.
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