Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb said that he has no trouble finding ways to lift his spirits and pass the time under lockdown.
Dirt-biking through the kitchen, driving Formula One on a games console and embarrassing codriver Daniel Elena on social media are among the diversions that Frenchman Loeb has found under lockdown at his home in Switzerland.
Loeb last competed in the Monte Carlo rally in January, the opening round of the World Rally Championship.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Since then, with the season on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has not been behind the wheel for his Hyundai team.
With time on his hands, Loeb has adopted new pursuits.
These include riding his dirt bike around his swimming pool, up the garden steps and through his kitchen.
The video has been seen more than 141,000 times on Instagram, giving a glimpse of how he passes his time when away from his chosen sport.
“I don’t do too much. A little bit of sport, PlayStation, I look after my daughter, a bit of trampoline and some dirt-biking at home,” Loeb said earlier this week.
As well as his biking video, fans have been following the banter between Loeb and teammate Elena on social media.
On Sunday, a well-toned Loeb posted photographs of him working out with the caption: “My [first] punishment for driving my bike in the house: 250 press-ups every day.”
A less buff Elena fired back a day later with photographs of himself matching Loeb’s efforts, saying: “The success of a team is its complementarity.”
Loeb denied that he was in competition with Elena.
“With ‘Danos,’ it’s not a challenge that I’ve started. It’s him who starts the challenges himself by doing the same thing as me,” he said. “It’s not always a success, but you have to make the effort to try.”
As well as interacting on social media, Loeb said that he has traded his rally car for a Formula One motor on a games console.
“It’s a bit of a change,” he said. “In rallying, it’s pure driving. We’re not in a peloton, so it’s a bit different. On the track, I think there’s more to gain from being on PlayStation, or whichever simulator. For me it passes the time.”
Loeb is contracted to compete in six rallies this season, which could restart in July, but the Frenchman has more questions than answers about the rest of the campaign.
“The next three legs have been postponed,” Loeb said. “Will they take place? Will we be out of the lockdown and will the situation stabilize, so activities can restart in three weeks? One month? Two months? I don’t know anything. I don’t think anyone does really. We’ll see — we’ll deal with it.”
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