Christian Loriaux has spent three and a half years battling with Toyota – and now he’s joining the Japanese manufacturer.
But the amiable Belgian won’t be going head-to-head with his former employer anytime soon. Not unless Hyundai changes the direction of its endurance future and heads off-road instead of going around in circles at Le Mans.
Loriaux was announced as Overdrive Racing’s head of development on Monday.
Overdrive is, of course, the firm which runs Toyota Gazoo Racing’s World Rally-Raid Championship effort. Having stepped away from Hyundai earlier this month, the 58-year-old will pull on his all-new black, white and red (with a splash of Red Bull) kit and get straight on a plane bound for Saudi Arabia and Dakar.
Overdrive is preparing nine cars for next month’s Dakar, with American Seth Quintero, Lucas Moraes, Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Toby Price among those running a Hilux similar to the car used to win the event for two of last three years.
Andrea Carlucci, Toyota Gazoo W2RC team principal said: “We are delighted that Christian joins the Overdrive family. There is no doubt that both the official Toyota Gazoo Racing Team and the many privateers that are part of the Toyota W2RC community will benefit from his knowledge and commitment.”
Managing director of Overdrive Jean-Marc Fortin will be a familiar face for Loriaux – the Belgians worked together at M-Sport more than 20 years ago. Loriaux was busy creating the ultimate Ford Focus WRC, while Fortin was co-driver to François Duval before Stéphane Prévot stepped in.
Fortin said: “We are very pleased to welcome Christian Loriaux to the team. He is such a famous engineer with an impressive history with Subaru, Ford, Bentley and Hyundai. Honestly, this is an honour and a new motivation for us to build an even stronger research and development department. He will be heading this department, to fight with all the other teams and to develop new technology with Toyota Gazoo Racing and to look what we can achieve together in cross-country racing.”
It’s in Fortin’s words where the statement of intent sits. After Glyn Hall’s retirement from Toyota’s off-road effort last year, there’s no doubt this is a transitional period for the team. While the Hilux retains the pace and consistency to win another Dakar, it’s going to be increasingly difficult in the face of inbound competition from Ford and Dacia.
While Loriaux’s departure from Hyundai just weeks after helping the Korean firm land a drivers’ title for the first time ever might not have been planned, the timing could be perfect for Overdrive and Toyota. The Hilux looks ripe for a re-working and few have Loriaux’s level of understanding of what works on the dirt.
Joining Sébastien Loeb, Carlos Sainz and the Wilson family, to name but a few, in the Dakar bivouac, W2RC is looking more and more like a who’s who of the World Rally Championship.
