Freddy Loix (born 10 November 1970) is a Belgian

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

driver.

Career

Loix's career in motor sport began in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

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 The Mitsubishi Galant is an automobile which was produced by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi from 1969 until 2012. The model name was derived from the French word ''galant'', meaning "chivalrous". There have been nine distinct generations with ...

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 The Toyota Corolla WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Toyota Castrol Team by Toyota Motorsport GmbH to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the E110 version of Toyota Corolla road car. The car was debuted at the 1997 ...

. He took the lead in the 1997

Sanremo Rally Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rall ...

but mechanical problems brought an end to his charge for victory. Loix and his co-driver,

Sven Smeets Sven Smeets (born 12 May 1972) is a Belgian Formula One engineer. He is currently the sporting director at the Williams Racing Formula One team. Career Smeets began his motorsport career in 1993 as a co-driver in rallying and became the navigato ...

, moved to

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

in 1999 and campaigned a

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versio ...

(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 The Safari Rally is a rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically r ...

. Despite the setback, Loix fought back and achieved 4 fourth places (in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, Sanremo and

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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 Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

at the start of 2002. This was a difficult season in the

Hyundai Accent WRC The Hyundai Accent WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team by Motor Sport Developments to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Hyundai Accent road car, and was debuted at the 2000 Rally S ...

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 Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

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 Richard Alexander Burns (17 January 1971 – 25 November 2005) was an English rally driver who won the 2001 World Rally Championship, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world ...

, 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 The Peugeot 307 WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Peugeot 307 road car. It was used by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot's factory team, and replaced the championship-winning 206 WRC from 2004 to 2005 in the World Rally Championship. Competition his ...

before retiring from the WRC later that season after the 2004 Rally Catalunya. Since 2007 Loix has been competing in the FIA Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) with Peugeot Sport Belgium, driving a

Peugeot 207 S2000 The Peugeot 207 S2000 is a Super 2000 rally car developed by Peugeot Sport. It is based upon the Peugeot 207 road car. Drivers Enrique García Ojeda, Nicolas Vouilloz and Kris Meeke won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental ...

. Loix is currently the most successful driver in IRC with a total of seven wins, including a hat trick in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Results

WRC results

IRC results

ERC results

References

External links

Profile at ewrc-results.comFreddyLoix.com HomepageRallybase stat page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loix, Freddy 1970 births Living people People from Tongeren Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers World Rally Championship drivers European Rally Championship drivers Belgian rally drivers Sportspeople from Limburg (Belgium) Peugeot Sport drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers 20th-century Belgian people