Chevrolet denies Loeb interest

Date published : 17 Aug 2011 - 13:13:07

Sebastien Loeb will not race a Chevrolet Cruze in the World Touring Car Championship in the near future, despite testing a works machine at Rockingham last Friday. The Frenchman drove the RML-run car following an invitation by Chevrolet driver Yvan Muller when the latter took part in Rally France last year. But Chevrolet stressed that the outing was a one-off simply to satisfy the World Rally champion's curiosity and not an indication of his future career direction. "Chevrolet and RML were glad to co-operate in materialising the invitation made by Yvan to Sebastian to try his Cruze," read a statement by the manufacturer. "However what happened cannot, in any way, be interpreted as a short-term expression of a professional interest by any of the parties involved." Loeb has some circuit racing experience and most notably finished second at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006 in a Pescarolo. He reiterated that he has no plans to race in the WTCC and will instead focus his efforts on winning an eighth straight WRC crown this year. "It was totally different sensations [to a rally car]. I would say the feelis are like a GT, but more like a WRC in terms of performance because the technical regulations are substantially the same," Loeb said. "The performance level was not super-impressive. To have real circuit feelings it's much better to drive an F1 car. "It was for fun and just to see what it is. One car to another circuit... It's always different. But this does not mean I'll announce that I'm starting in the WTCC."