Sebastien Loeb and the more motorsport-obsessed elements of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group seem hellbent with breaking records. Together they've accumulated an unprecedented nine World Rally Championship titles, 78 rally wins and the all-time record for climbing Pikes Peak. And this season they'll be taking on the World Touring Car Championship
together as well, hoping to apply their winning form to another racing
discipline. But before they do, they'll be going for another trophy: the
lap record for the famous hill-climb course at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The record currently belongs to Nick Heidfeld, who drove a McLaren MP4/13 – the car that won both the drivers' and constructors' titles in the 1998 Formula One World Championship
with Mika Hakkinen behind the wheel – up the hill in a blistering 41.6
seconds back in '99. The accomplishment sets Heidfeld apart after a
dozen seasons on the F1 grid but not a single grand prix victory to his
name. But that's just what Loeb and Peugeot aim to strip him of when this year's festival kicks off in late June.
Loeb's weapon of choice will be the same Peugeot 208 T16 with which he took the Pikes Peak record. With 875 horsepower on tap, just as many kilos to motivate and bigger wings than an Airbus A380, the T16 is one of the only cars out there capable of beating a modern F1 machine, and Loeb is just the man to drive it.
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