Rally Turkey leader Sébastien Loeb has explained the pre-event preparations he adopted for “the first time” that have helped him rise to the front of the rally and become the oldest driver ever to lead a World Rally Championship round.
The nine-time world champion, who started eighth on the road, was second fastest on both Friday evening stages and holds an overnight lead of 1.2 seconds over Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville.
But while Neuville and the other Hyundai of World Rally Champion Ott Tänak haemorrhaged time in the dusty clouds that lingered on SS2, Loeb surrendered just 0.5s to stage winner Sébastien Ogier despite starting even further back on the road than his team-mates which, in theory, should have made it even harder for him.
“It’s great to be in this position now,” Loeb told DirtFish. “I didn’t really know what to expect.
“I had some experience from some other rallies where I was pushing hard but in the end the time was not good and here, since I tested the car [in Greece], the feeling with the car was good, the notes were good and I tried to push hard in the first stage immediately because I knew that these two stages tonight are crucial for the road position for the rest of the rally.
“So I did my best and finally the rhythm was there, the times also, so I started the second stage with the same motivation and leading at the end it’s just incredible.”
He added: “Today I wanted to push because I knew that I need to have a good road position, if I have a s*** position for tomorrow the rally’s over.
“So I did the job today and now I know that tomorrow we have Ogier and Neuville who also have a very good road position so maybe it’ll be more complicated. But I was in the rhythm today so hopefully I can continue to fight with them tomorrow.”
Loeb said he went to extra effort prior to the rally – which he has not contested since it returned to the WRC calendar in 2018 from the current Marmaris base – by watching onboards and preparing pacenotes so he did not start the recce without a base.
“It’s the first time I’m doing that because I know that when you take the note in the first pass and the second one you just correct it a little bit you cannot be 100% confident, so I tried to work a bit before and at the end it seems that it pays [off],” he said.
When asked to expand on that by DirtFish, Loeb said: “I tried to work on the pacenotes with the onboards and to make a base of pacenotes for me, that suits me.
“It’s quite complicated because it’s different from any other [system]. Ogier has a bit the same system but it’s not at the same level, he has higher notes.
“It was two long days to make the job and then to watch the onboards with my pacenotes on it, to have a little bit the stages in the head before I started the recce, that was I think much better than when you arrive and you don’t know at all where you go.”
The 46-year-old added that he “tried to trust my notes” when he entered the thicker dust on SS2, and felt he “didn’t lose the rhythm like some other drivers”.
Loeb leads the rally but there are still 10 stages standing between him and an 80th WRC victory and a potential first for Hyundai.
“It’s a bit early to speak about win,” he said.
“It’s a long way to go, it’s a rough rally, it’s always a lot of things happening so I don’t say it’s important. For sure I’m motivated to do my best for that and I will try that tomorrow [Saturday] and even on Sunday and we will see.”
