Sébastien Loeb will return to the World Rallycross Championship this season after a four-year hiatus, driving a retrofitted Lancia Delta with the newly created Special One Racing outfit alongside Guerlain Chicherit.
Loeb’s last outing in World RX came in 2018, when he formed part of the Peugeot factory-supported Hansen Motorsport team and took victory at Mettet in Belgium.
The nine-time World Rally champion tested the Lancia-derived Delta Evo-e, which has been converted to electric specification in order to compete in the top RX1e class, in December and was immediately convinced to make his comeback to the discipline.
“I’m from a generation that was brought up seeing wins by Lancia Deltas in rally racing,” said Loeb, who will be in the unique position of competing for two world titles in the same year, alongside his World Rally-Raid Championship campaign.
“So, I naturally have a weakness for this car. But when Guerlain spoke to me the first time about tackling a rallycross, I thought he was mad!
“Then I tried the car in December 2022, and I was immediately won over by its dynamic qualities. I have great faith in this project, and I can’t wait to champion it on tracks around the world.”
Chicherit debuted the Evo-e at the final round of the 2022 season at the Nürburgring, under the GCK Motorsport banner. Now, having created the Special One Racing brand, Chicherit will bring the retrofitted Delta to the world championship for at least the next three seasons.
“It’s a dream of mine to be able to align two cars of my own brand with the World RX, one of which is entrusted to a sports legend,” Chicherit said.
“The scene is set to see Special One Racing become a top-notch team. From this season, we’ll have the opportunity to make history, becoming the first to have a retrofitted car win a World championship race.
“Let’s get going!”
The World RX season kicks off on the opening weekend of June at Montalegre in Portugal.
