Loeb to take more risks in Spain

World champion Sebastien Loeb admits he will have to take more risks than normal in order to defend his title when the opening stage of RallyRACC-Rally de Espana gets underway this morning.

Loeb’s once commanding title advantage has evaporated following a spate of poor results. As a consequence he starts the penultimate event of the season tied on points with Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and three in front of Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier.

“We are in a tight situation in the championship so we will have to push to take more points than them,” said Loeb. “For sure it will not be easy because the first day is tricky with a lot of gravel and I will be cleaning the road. Therefore it’s important not to lose too much time on Friday because on Tarmac it is very close between the different cars and drivers. We have to take some risks and accept if we take some risks we can do a mistake and the championship is over.”

Loeb has won in Spain on the last six occasions and has been world champion every year since 2004. However, he says contesting the mixed surface event will be like starting from scratch.

“For sure the situation is a bit different from what it was a few rallies ago,” said Loeb. “I’ve had three bad rallies, one with puncture, one off road and one when we broke the engine. I am still leading the championship equal with Mikko. But for sure we have to start everything again from zero now.”