Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez – rally interview
redbull.comIn the past three years, motorsport legend , 50, and Dakar winner , 32, have formed a formidable partnership after the nine-time World Rally winner hand-picked the talented Spanish rally driver as his team-mate in the Extreme E championship. Impressed by her driving ability, determination and work ethic, the Frenchman became her mentor. Loeb and Gutiérrez took Team X44 to runners-up spot in the inaugural Extreme E electric car championship in 2021 before returning the following season to take the title outright.
The Spaniard took her first class win in Dakar in 2021 before achieving her first victory at the Dakar Rally in January.And now the student turns master as Gutiérrez and Loeb compete in BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal in the WR2C. Loeb is a three-time runner-up in the Ultimate class at the Dakar Rally, but in Portugal, he steps down to race a Taurus T3 Max buggy that Gutiérrez steered to the top at this year’s Dakar.“This is my first time in a Taurus so when I have questions, I’ll ask Cristina,” said Loeb. “The rally is 1,000 kilometres long so I will have to ask questions about how to best manage the car as we go through the five timed special stages.
I want to finish so, above all, I need to know where the limit is.”“For me, it’s an honour that someone like him values my opinion,” said Cristina. “It’s fun to see Seb competing in the same category, I think he’ll be surprised at the Taurus’s level. I greatly admire Seb for his support and because he’s interested in my performance at each stage of the Dakar.
