Sebastien Loeb looks increasingly likely to make his World Rally Championship return on the 2018 Monte Carlo Rally.
Though Loeb’s focus next year will be a ramped-up Peugeot-Hansen World Rallycross Championship campaign and he will also contest the Dakar Rally again, he has made clear he would be open to occasional WRC outings.
Citroen team principal Yves Matton is keen for the Monte to be one of them as he thinks it could be the nine-time WRC champion’s best chance of success in a C3 WRC.
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“Monte could be great,” said Matton.
“It’s the one rally where you could make a good result without so much mileage.
“It’s a lot about the feeling, the tyre choice, understanding the weather – these things make a difference on this rally.”
Loeb’s Dakar programme complicates the Monte idea, as he would arrive back in Europe only one day before the recce begins.
“The timing is tight and we have to see how Sebastien is physically after driving for so many miles on Dakar,” Matton admitted.
Matton added that the potential impact of Loeb contesting the world’s most famous rally would be huge for Citroen, as it was when he made a one-off return for the 2015 Monte.
“It’s clear that if he joins us for next year, it’s for a few events,” said Matton.
“If that’s one rally, two or three, it doesn’t matter.
“If he’s back for Citroen, it’s a huge interest and a huge return for Citroen.
“And if he does win then that could bring us a lot of benefit, but I don’t think we need to focus on the win.
“We need to see, will he be at the right level to be on the podium?”