Sebastien Loeb
answers your
questions

Frank Rosenthal, USA: When did you discover your amazing talent? “I don’t know if it’s amazing but the first time I realised something was when I was riding mopeds doing little races organised in Haguenau. Immediately I was the fastest of every competitor and then when I started driving a car I was much better than my friends. It went from there.”

Karlip, Estonia: What one incident made you the most angry during your WRC career? “It was in 2009. I rolled in Greece and on the next rally in Poland I hit a little tree stump. It was nothing but it broke the wishbone and I stopped. Finally it was a problem with material but everybody thought I had another problem after my crash in Greece, two problems in a row. For me this was not an easy situation coming out of a crash.”

Cristi Cotan: Is it true you drink 10 cups of coffee each day and how does it improve your performance? “No, nine! I drink three in the morning, maybe one at midday and one in the evening but never later than that when I am on a rally. When I am at home with friends it can happen that I drink more after dinner. But I never drink 10 on a rally, that’s too much.”

Isak Ruuska, Sweden: What will you most miss about not competing in the WRC next season? “Maybe the fact I will not be competing for the title and I will not have this target for the season to try to win the title will be a bit different. I will still have a lot of things to do, maybe some GT racing and preparing for the 2014 WTCC with Citroen. I will be driving but I won’t have this target.”

Murtaza Kara, Tanzania: What is the secret to your consistency behind the wheel? “To be always motivated, to always want to show that you’re still the best and to be able to fight to do something correctly. Also, I always try to prepare quite as well as possible.”

Tanmay Tiwari, Allahabad, India: What is the best rally car you’ve driven and why? “It’s not very original but I think it’s the DS3. The agility is much better than the C4. Even if we don’t have all these electronic things the reaction of the car is very natural and you can really play with the car throwing it from one side to the other. It gives me much more confidence than you have with the feeling with a heavy car.”

Sven Johansen, Norway: What was your best season in the WRC in terms of the performance gap between you and your rivals? “It was 2006. I had four months holiday and I still win the championship, from the sofa.”

Yavor, Sofia, Bulgaria: We have seen your family following you on many WRC rounds. Does your daughter show any interest in rally cars and would you be happy for her to drive or would you rather not let that happen? “I think it’s a bit early to say. I will not push her to be a driver but if I feel she is driving better than me or if she drives like me then maybe yes, providing there is a possibility of a career like Michele Mouton. But if she is taking risks just for fun then no, I would not support her.”

Alexander Tamayo, Madrid, Spain: What skills, mental and physical, have made you so incredibly good at what you do? “The balance and ability to move into the space available are two things but the main thing in rallying is the feeling. It has to be natural and I have quite a good feeling.”

Paul, Dublin, Ireland: Now that you’re so close to your 10th title why not go for it next year given the extra competition from your countryman Sebastien Ogier? “I have 10 if you count the Super 1600 title in 2001. Valentino Rossi counts his 125cc title so I can count this one.”