WRC legend Loeb came close to joining DTM with BMW 10 years ago

Loeb referred to as time on his glittering full-time profession within the WRC on the finish of the 2012 season after a document 9 titles with Citroen, incomes his place amongst motorsport’s all-time greats.

The Frenchman went on to compete in 4 WRC occasions the next 12 months and continues to make one-off appearances within the championship to this date, including 4 additional wins to his spectacular tally – together with most not too long ago on the Monte Carlo season opener in January.

He additionally dabbled in all kinds of tin-top championships within the ensuing interval, most notably driving a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 within the FIA GT sequence along with his self-owned group in 2013 earlier than embarking on a two-year stint within the World Touring Automobile Championship with Citroen.

Nevertheless, Loeb’s post-WRC profession could have seemed fairly completely different, with the 48-year-old revealing in an unique interview that he could have nicely ended up within the DTM in 2013 with BMW, a 12 months after the Munich-based producer received the title in its maiden season within the class.

“One time I used to be in dialogue with some producer in DTM to perhaps enter the championship,” Loeb told Motorsport.com’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com in a video interview. “That was almost 10 years in the past, once I was simply retiring from WRC. 

“Lastly, we determined to do one thing completely different, however I used to be wanting a bit into the DTM a very long time in the past already.

“I used to be talking with BMW. I believe it was fairly shut [to striking a deal]. Lastly, I made a decision to proceed in WRC [part-time] and it stopped our dialogue.”

Martin Tomczyk, BMW Crew RMG, BMW M3 DTM

Picture by: BMW AG

Loeb did get to make his DTM debut earlier this month when he drove an AF Corse-run Ferrari 488 GT3 at Portimao, having been requested by Crimson Bull to switch the absent Nick Cassidy within the group’s line-up.

The Frenchman completed sixteenth and 18th throughout the 2 races in Portugal, and even certified inside eight tenths off pole within the first qualifying session of the weekend.

Having intently adopted his performances, AF Corse chief Ron Reichert was most impressed by Loeb’s means to carve by site visitors after a security automobile restart in Race 1, leaping from twenty first to thirteenth place in a single lap.

“The onboard digicam of Seb on the restart within the first race was the video I watched essentially the most this weekend,” he advised Motorsport-Whole.com.

“He made up six or seven positions within the course of – and the sensation he has is simply unbelievable,” Reichert stated of his driver, who moved up from twenty first to thirteenth in a single lap.

“He wasn’t anticipating the beginning, he was anticipating what was going to occur in entrance of him on the monitor, the place the opposite automobiles have been going, who might need contact. He drove like he knew precisely what was going to occur.”