Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix (born 10 November 1970) is a Belgian rally driver.
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Belgian |
Born | Tongeren, Belgium | 10 November 1970
World Rally Championship record | |
Active years | 1993–2004 |
Co-driver | Sven Smeets |
Teams | Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Peugeot |
Rallies | 86 |
Championships | 0 |
Rally wins | 0 |
Podiums | 3 |
Stage wins | 34 |
Total points | 88 |
First rally | 1993 Rallye Sanremo |
Last rally | 2004 Rally Catalunya |
Career
Loix's career in motor sport began in karting at the age of 15. In 1990, he bought his first rally car, a Lancia Delta group N, though he soon progressed to a Mitsubishi Galant Group N.
1993 saw a big step forward in Loix's career as he became part of the Marlboro World Championship Team driving an Opel Astra and he became the Belgian F2-champion.
Nicknamed Fast Freddy by his fans, he made the switch to four wheel drive in 1996 with a Toyota Celica GT-Four and completed 3 World Rally Championship (WRC) events and a further 6 in 1997. This period saw continuing sponsorship with Marlboro and a switch to the new Toyota Corolla WRC. He took the lead in the 1997 Sanremo Rally but mechanical problems brought an end to his charge for victory.
Loix and his co-driver, Sven Smeets, moved to Mitsubishi in 1999 and campaigned a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI (which was badged as a Carisma GT). His first year with Mitsubishi proved to be a difficult one with Loix being injured in a horrific accident during the Safari Rally. Despite the setback, Loix fought back and achieved 4 fourth places (in Spain, Greece, Sanremo and Australia).
In 2001, and after several successful seasons, the Mitsubishi Lancer, being a Group A car, found itself outdated and incapable of competing on the same level as the new WRC cars that the other teams were running.
Loix signed a two-year contract with Hyundai at the start of 2002. This was a difficult season in the Hyundai Accent WRC and his best result was 6th place on the Rally Australia. Due to funding cutbacks in 2003, the team couldn't develop the car further and Hyundai retired from the WRC following 2003's Rally Australia.
A drive for Peugeot in the last rally of the 2003 calendar, the RAC Rally in Great Britain, not only saw him replace the by then ailing 2001 World Rally Champion Richard Burns, it also saw him finish in 6th place overall in that year's rally. In the 2004 season, Loix completed only 5 WRC events, all for the factory Peugeot team again, in a Peugeot 307 WRC before retiring from the WRC later that season after the 2004 Rally Catalunya.[1] Since 2007 Loix has been competing in the FIA Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) with Peugeot Sport Belgium, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000. Loix is currently the most successful driver in IRC with a total of seven wins, including a hat trick in 2010.[2][3]
Results
WRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Opel Team Belgium | Opel Astra | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | ARG | NZL | FIN | AUS | ITA 9 |
ESP | GBR | 55th | 2 | |||
1994 | Opel Team Belgium | Opel Astra | MON | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | ARG | NZL | FIN 21 |
ITA 24 |
GBR | – | 0 | ||||||
1995 | Opel Team Belgium | Opel Astra | MON | SWE | POR Ret |
FRA 14 |
NZL | AUS | ESP | GBR | – | 0 | ||||||||
1996 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 | SWE | KEN | IDN | GRE 7 |
ARG | FIN | AUS | ITA 4 |
ESP 4 |
8th | 24 | |||||||
1997 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 | MON 16 |
SWE | KEN | POR 2 |
ESP | FRA | ARG | GRE Ret |
NZL | FIN 37 |
IDN | AUS 7 |
GBR | 9th | 8 | |||
Toyota Corolla WRC | ITA 5 |
|||||||||||||||||||
1998 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Corolla WRC | MON | SWE | KEN | POR 3 |
ESP 2 |
FRA | ARG | GRC 5 |
NZL | FIN | ITA | AUS 6 |
GBR | 8th | 13 | |||
1999 | Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | MON Ret |
SWE 9 |
KEN Ret |
POR | ESP 4 |
FRA 8 |
ARG Ret |
GRE 4 |
NZL 8 |
FIN 10 |
CHN Ret |
ITA 4 |
AUS 4 |
GBR 5 |
8th | 14 | ||
2000 | Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | MON 6 |
SWE 8 |
KEN Ret |
POR 6 |
ESP 8 |
ARG 5 |
GRE Ret |
NZL Ret |
FIN Ret |
CYP 8 |
FRA Ret |
ITA 8 |
AUS Ret |
GBR Ret |
15th | 4 | ||
2001 | Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5 | MON 6 |
SWE 13 |
POR Ret |
ESP 4 |
ARG 6 |
CYP 5 |
GRC 9 |
KEN 5 |
FIN 10 |
NZL 11 |
ITA 12 |
FRA 12 |
AUS 11 |
GBR Ret |
13th | 9 | ||
2002 | Hyundai Castrol WRT | Hyundai Accent WRC | MON Ret |
SWE Ret |
FRA 9 |
ESP 10 |
CYP Ret |
ARG Ret |
GRC Ret |
KEN Ret |
FIN 9 |
GER Ret |
ITA 28 |
NZL 6 |
AUS Ret |
GBR 8 |
19th | 1 | ||
2003 | Hyundai Castrol WRT | Hyundai Accent WRC | MON Ret |
SWE 10 |
TUR 10 |
NZL Ret |
ARG Ret |
GRE Ret |
CYP Ret |
GER 11 |
FIN 10 |
AUS 8 |
ITA | FRA | ESP | 14th | 4 | |||
Marlboro Peugeot Total | Peugeot 206 WRC | GBR 6 |
||||||||||||||||||
2004 | Marlboro Peugeot Total | Peugeot 307 WRC | MON 5 |
SWE Ret |
MEX | NZL | CYP | GRC | TUR | ARG | FIN | GER 6 |
JPN | GBR | ITA | FRA 7 |
ESP Ret |
AUS | 10th | 9 |
IRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Duindisteel | Citroen C2 S1600 | RSA | YPR 4 |
MAD | ITA | 13th | 5 | |||||||||
2007 | Belgian VW club | VW Polo S2000 | SAF | TUR | YPR Ret |
16th | 5 | ||||||||||
Freddy Loix | Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 | RUS | MAD Ret |
ZLI Ret |
SAN 11 |
VAL 4 |
CHN | ||||||||||
2008 | Peugeot Team Benelux | Peugeot 207 S2000 | IST 8 |
POR Ret |
YPR 1 |
RUS 4 |
MAD 6 |
ZLI 1 |
AST 3 |
SAN 5 |
VAL 1 |
CHN | 2nd | 48 | |||
2009 | Peugeot Team Benelux | Peugeot 207 S2000 | MON 2 |
CUR 4 |
SAF | AZO 4 |
YPR 3 |
RUS | MAD 6 |
ZLI Ret |
AST 6 |
ITA 4 |
SCO | 3rd | 37 | ||
2010 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | MON | CUR | ARG | CAN | SAR | YPR 1 |
AZO | MAD 1 |
ZLI 1 |
SAN 3 |
SCO | CYP | 4th | 36 | |
2011 | Škoda Motorsport | Škoda Fabia S2000 | MON 2 |
CAN 4 |
COR 3 |
YAL | YPR 1 |
AZO | ZLI 2 |
MEC 3 |
SAN Ret |
SCO | CYP 5 |
4th | 123 | ||
2012 | Duindisteel | Peugeot 207 S2000 | AZO | CAN | IRL | COR | ITA | YPR 2 |
SMR | ROM | ZLI | YAL | SLI | SAN | CYP | 20th | 18 |
References
- http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=10
- "IRC glory in Madeira for Loix". ircseries.com. Intercontinental Rally Challenge. 7 August 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- "After SS17: Dramatic third IRC win for Loix". ircseries.com. Intercontinental Rally Challenge. 29 August 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.