Freddy Loix

Freddy Loix
Personal information
NationalityBelgium Belgian
Born (1970-11-10) 10 November 1970 (age 54)
Tongeren, Belgium
World Rally Championship record
Active years1993–2004, 2022
Co-driverBelgium Johnny Vranken
Belgium André Malais
Belgium Sven Smeets
Belgium Pieter Tsjoen
TeamsToyota, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Peugeot
Rallies93
Championships0
Rally wins0
Podiums3
Stage wins34
Total points88
First rally1993 Rallye Sanremo
Last rally2022 Ypres Rally

Freddy Loix (born 10 November 1970) is a Belgian rally driver.

Career

[edit]
Loix driving a Peugeot 307 WRC.

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).

Loix at 2011 Rallye Monte Carlo with Škoda Fabia S2000.

In 2001, and after several successful seasons, the Mitsubishi Lancer, being a Group A car, found itself outdated and incapable of competing on the same level as the new WRC cars that the other teams were running.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]

Loix has also competed on the Dakar rally. On the 2006 Dakar Rally for Bowler Motors and in 2007 driving a buggy.[4]

Following motorsport, he invested into, and ran, the Aston Martin Brussels car dealership.[5]

Results

[edit]

WRC results

[edit]
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
2022 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo MON
24 		SWE CRO POR ITA
17 		KEN EST FIN
20 		BEL
17 		GRE NZL ESP JPN NC 0

IRC results

[edit]
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points
2006 Belgium Duindisteel Citroen C2 S1600 RSA YPR
4 		MAD ITA 13th 5
2007 Belgium Belgian VW club VW Polo S2000 SAF TUR YPR
Ret 		16th 5
Belgium Freddy Loix Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 RUS MAD
Ret 		ZLI
Ret 		SAN
11 		VAL
4 		CHN
2008 Belgium 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 Belgium 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 Czech Republic Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 MON CUR ARG CAN SAR YPR
1 		AZO MAD
1 		ZLI
1 		SAN
3 		SCO CYP 4th 36
2011 Czech Republic 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 Belgium Duindisteel Peugeot 207 S2000 AZO CAN IRL COR ITA YPR
2 		SMR ROM ZLI YAL SLI SAN CYP 20th 18

ERC results

[edit]
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WDC Points
2013 Czech Republic Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 JÄN LIE CAN AZO COR YPR
1 		ROM CZE POL CRO SAN VAL 11th 37

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "RallyBase".
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ {{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSmnmin8WQ&list=PLy7z90r9IcNjQpWbSGZrwDTe2kQQz7t_H&index=9%7Ctitle=Dakar 2007 Video 9|publisher=YouTube|date=12 April 2024
  5. ^ {{cite news|url=https://www.linkedin.com/company/aston-martin-brussels/about/%7Ctitle=Aston Martin Brussels About|publisher=LinkedIn|date=27 November 2024
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