'I've discussed a WRC return but I'm a bit busy right now' says Sébastien Loeb

Teething troubles with the all-new, bespoke Spark-built Odyssey 21 have been relatively minor, but like his rivals Loeb circles the suspension as the priority for development. “We have to improve the suspension because it’s a bit tricky to drive the car with it, but on the engine side and the power management it’s really working well,” he says, before expanding on the specifics of the niggle. “It’s very regulated, we cannot change or improve our own suspension,” he says. “What we have is all the same for all the cars and it’s not good enough. It’s under-damped, so the car is lifting all the time and jumping around. I don’t think it is very complicated but I think it needs to be done.”

As is the way in Extreme E, Loeb and his rivals have little idea what to expect from the course they will face in Greenland – “I know nothing” he says – but cautiously welcomes a move to increase the number of cars competing in the final. Poor visibility created by dust meant only three raced against each other in Saudi, four took the start in Senegal and this time the plan is to up the number to five. “It can work if we don’t have the dust problem we had in Saudi,” says Loeb. “In Senegal it was much better and we saw a much more interesting semi-final and final because the car could keep contact with the car ahead. Even if it was still difficult to overtake we could see a fight, whereas in Saudi after the first corner there was 15sec between the cars because we couldn’t see anything. More cars in the final can work if we don’t get this problem of dust. If we do maybe we should look to another solution, like a joker lap like we have in rallycross.”

Once the inaugural Extreme E season wraps up, Loeb’s full attention will turn to the Dakar Rally in January with a revised Prodrive-built BRX Hunter T1+ with hopes of better fortune compared to last time: he retired on the eighth stage when not one but two punctures left him and co-driver Daniel Elena stranded on a stage for five hours.

In the wake of the 2021 event, he and long-time friend Elena split, so this time he’ll have a new co-driver, Fabian Lurquin, alongside him. The new pairing became more acquainted on the recent Baja Espana Aragón, where Loeb sensationally led into the final stage driving the original version of the BRX – only to hit a series of troubles that cost him a first Cross Country win. He and Lurpuin had fallen to seventh by the finish.

“I had fun because the roads are a bit like WRC, and it was interesting to drive this car on these type of roads,” he says. “It was our first experience with my new co-driver, so it was interesting to discover how we can collaborate in the car. The car was working well and it was important to see that we were able to fight with the best drivers. Then we had bad luck: 150km into the last stage we were 2min 45sec ahead and just had to cruise to the end – and then the trouble started. The first alarm was an overheating engine so we checked if we had something in the air intake, but there was nothing, which was a bit strange. Then 2km later we lost the power steering. I don’t know if the problems were linked but without power steering for 40km in a twisty stage it was really undriveable.

“I still tried to keep the rhythm in the fast sections, but I lost control. At one point when I hit the brakes the steering turned and we went into some stones and we had a puncture. Because we had no hydraulics for the power steering we had no electronics for the jacks, so we had to use the spare which is complicated to access, and we had to use some stones to raise the car high enough to change the wheel. Everything went wrong. Until that point, 40km from the end of the Baja, I enjoyed it and it was exciting.”

The great man seems upbeat, is clearly enjoying his sport as much as ever and with that in mind, you wouldn’t bet against that WRC return – even if Loeb makes it clear a deal is yet to be done. Best keep your fingers crossed.