Sebastien Loeb

When you think of Gods in the world of racing, you come up with a number of big names like Juan Manual Fangio, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Mario Andretti, and of course, the king of them all, Michael Schumacher.

If you were to look for the 'Rally-equivalent' of the king of drivers, then only one name would tower over the rest – Sebastien Loeb.

The similarities between Schumacher and Loeb are astounding – both have ice-cool heads under pressure, both are totally focused and no matter what the conditions, both Schumacher and Loeb are almost illegally quick. However, there is just one small difference. Loeb, if anything, has reached the pole of Rally driving quicker than Michael did in Formula1. In his first complete year in the sport, Loeb almost took the world by storm, missing out on the World Drivers' title. But he didn't disappoint thereafter.

In 2004, he took the title, in his Citroen, with 3 wins in his second year in the sport and it was just getting better!!!

In 2005, with a record 10 rally wins including a record 6 in a row, he sealed his reputation as the Top-Man in rallying. As if that wasn't enough, he won his third consecutive title despite missing the last 4 rounds of the season. He injured his arm in a mountain biking accident but all he had to do was standby and watch as others tried desperately to break his winning streak, without success.

And of course, there was the small matter of the 2007 title that he won, which seemed rather sober as compared to his other 3.

His life started as an acrobat but it was an itch for rallying that developed inside his head. In 1998, he started off with two wins in the French Citroen Saxo Trophy. He went on to win the title as well in the same year. Citroen realized the prize they had in their hands and decided to nurture him. The team's figurehead, Guy Frequelin, mentored a young Loeb through the French National Series as well as the Junior Super 1600 class of the WRC which he won in 2001. He also contested in the World Rally Championships in that year, in quite a few chosen events. He drove a Citroen Xsara WRC and proved that he was as adept at the top level, as he was below it.

In 2002, Loeb won his first WRC round, in Germany. But it was only over 2003 and 2004 that he rapidly began to develop his speed and consistency on surfaces other than asphalt roads. In 2003, he chased Petter Solberg till the last round of the season only to stay behind even at the end.

What he did thereafter was the stuff of legends. 2004 was conquered; 2005 was blazed out of the way; in 2006, more obstacles stood in his path. Citroen withdrew from the season for a year that was to be spent in development and research. So Loeb was forced to race for a privateer outfit by the name 'Kronos Racing'. In just his third year, as a privateer, and despite missing the last four races of the season, Loeb won the championship and in the process, beat Carlos Sainz's record of the highest number of career victories.

Citroen returned in the 2007 season and with a brand new car – the C4WRC. A brand new car for a brand new season had the same result for the Frenchman. A fourth consecutive crown meant that 2008 would be another year of mounting speculation whether anybody would ever be able to stop this French Juggernaut.