MOTORSPORT: Loeb revs up for Dakar

He was the most successful driver in the history of special-stage rallying. Now he's turning his attention to marathon rallies, in particular the Dakar.

Nine-time world rally champion and 78-time WRC event winner Sebastien Loeb is only 3½ weeks away from racing a Peugeot 2008 DKR in the two-week torture test in South America, starting in Argentina on January 3.

Images have been released of the great Frenchman testing the two-wheel-drive, twin-turbocharged 3-litre V6 diesel in Morocco, where he quietly contested a week-long cross-country event in October.

That wasn't without its hassles. Loeb and Spanish co-driver Lucas Cruz had to contend with a turbo fire on the first stage and later rolled.

"I got an idea of the sheer scale of a marathon event," Loeb said.

"Five hours after we rolled we still hadn't seen anyone around, just a few other competitors in the distance.

"It was night time by the time the mechanics got to us, but it was still a great experience."

Loeb had the chance to test the 2008 DKR in a lunar landscape with rocks and gravel like much of the Dakar course and also in rougher and sandy terrains. The Dakar is famous for its sand dunes, especially since its move from Africa to South America.

The Peugeot team, comprising many of the crew who worked with Loeb in 2013 when he set a record time on the Pikes Peak hillclimb in the US at the wheel of the wild Peugeot 208 T16, was delighted with his feedback on the 2008 DKR.

"Of course I feel at home in a rally car, but this is very different to any rally car I have tried before," Loeb said.

"But it's not actually the driving that is unfamiliar. It's more the pace notes – or rather the absence of pace notes.

"There are notes, of course, but you have to go and look for the road for yourself.

"And what I have always been used to is expecting the road in front of me – both from the recce and from the pace notes, which are really accurate in WRC.

"Here it seems to be much more about improvisation. It takes a while to appreciate just how much punishment the car can take and the sort of obstacles that it can handle.

"In the WRC you're accustomed to try to avoid obstacles, but with this car you drive straight through them or over them.

"It's a lot to get used to, but that's a big motivation."

Peugeot Sport team principal Bruno Famin said Loeb had "delivered exactly what we expected of him, and what we remembered from Pikes Peak" in the Morocco test.

"He's a great champion for a reason and entirely professional in his approach."

After his retirement from the WRC Loeb continued his 15-year association with Citroen circuit-racing in the World Touring Car Championship, in which he finished third this year behind teammates, Argentinian Jose Maria Lopez and Frenchman Yvan Muller.

However, Citroen said as part of the recent announcement of its withdrawal from the 2016 WRC to prepare for the new regulations in 2017, that it had no longer had any role for Loeb in any form of motorsport next year.

Loeb was surprised but diplomatic about that, while Citroen motorsport boss Yves Matton denied this week that his marque had fired Loeb.

"Seb wasn't 'fired'," Matton said.

"He is still part of the PSA Peugeot Citroen group and his new challenge with Peugeot Sport is not some sort of plan B, in view of his exceptional career.

"He chose to commit himself fully to the Dakar adventure and we'll be following his progress with great interest."

Loeb is one of a "dream team" four Peugeot drivers in the 2016 Dakar. His teammates are the event's most successful competitor, fellow Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, another Frenchman Cyril Depres and another multiple WRC champion, Carlos Sainz, a Dakar winner with Volkswagen in 2010.

Peugeot scored four straight Dakar victories in 1987-90 but had a difficult return this year against the might of the four-wheel-drive MINIs and Toyotas, with Peterhansel the French manufacturer's highest finisher in 11th.

Starting in Buenos Aires on January 3, the next Dakar route skips Chile this year, following that country's withdrawal to concentrate on rebuilding after devastating floods.