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Sébastien Loeb maintains striking distance of points lead after Morocco

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Two podium results for Sébastien Loeb in Marrakech, in which he was involved in race-long battles throughout, means the nine-time rally champion remains close to points-leading Citroën team-mate José María López in the standings.

The French driver finished third in the first race after starting fifth after a tough qualifying session on Saturday, having to fend off local hero Mehdi Bennani, also driving a Citroën C-Elysée WTCC in the first race.

In the second race, positions were reversed as Loeb fought his Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller for the lead for all 14 laps, but eventually crossed the line in second.

Asked on whether he preferred defending or attacking, the 41-year-old responded:
“It’s more stressful to be chased, and more exciting to chase,” he said to TouringCarTimes. “I managed to keep my position in the first race, in the second one I didn’t manage to pass, so in the end not the same satisfaction, but it was a good race with Yvan.”

During race one, the battle was between Loeb and Mehdi Bennani, who drives for the eponymously named Sébastien Loeb Racing team, but Loeb says the fact that Bennani was in effect his employee had no bearing on the battle, which saw Bennani briefly pass Loeb off circuit after a daring dive into the corner.

“We are racing drivers. The fight was very intense, I definitely was not thinking it’s my car, it’s my driver, I was just thinking I have to beat him and he was thinking the same.”

Loeb is now 17 points behind López in the standings after the Argentinian took pole, a win and a third place in Morocco, with Loeb remaining his closest challenger with Yvan Muller 19 points further behind him, but Loeb says more work needs to be done to bring the fight to ‘Pechito’ López.

“He’s also had a good weekend, so we need to change some things to bring the gap down,” said Loeb. Looking ahead to the next races, he added:
“I was not very good at Hungary last year, so I hope to be better there this year, and then there’s the Nürburgring. We’ve not done anything special in preparation. We’ve done some time in the simulator, and we went there in a road car on an open day last year.”