Freddy Loix (born 10 November 1970) is a Belgian

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver.

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 The Lancia Delta (stylized Lancia Delta (letter), δ) is a small family car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia in three generations. The first generation (1979–1994) debuted at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show#1979, Frankfurt Motor ...

group N, though he soon progressed to a

Mitsubishi Galant The 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 total cumulative ...

Group N. 1993 saw a big step forward in Loix's career as he became part of the

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

World Championship Team driving an

Opel Astra The Opel Astra is a compact car/ small family car ( C-segment) developed and produced by the German automaker Opel since 1991, currently at its sixth generation. It was first launched in September 1991 as a direct replacement to the Opel Kade ...

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 The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Toyota Celica, Celica Liftback that was produced from 1986 to 1999, with a Turbocharger, turbocharged ''Toyota S engine#3S-GTE, 3S-GTE'' engine, and full-time Four-wheel drive, AWD. I ...

and completed 3

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

(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 The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

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 The Safari Rally is an automobile 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 h ...

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

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Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

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 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 Rally Australia is an Rallying, automobile rally event which was held in Coffs Harbour as the final leg of the World Rally Championship (WRC) until 2018. First run in 1988, the rally was held in and around Perth, Western Australia until 2006. ...

. Due to funding cutbacks in 2003, the team couldn't develop the car further and Hyundai retired from the WRC following 2003's

. A drive for

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

in the last rally of the 2003 calendar, the

RAC Rally Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...

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. Since 2007 Loix has been competing in the FIA

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport, Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers ...

(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 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Loix has also competed on the Dakar rally. On the 2006 Dakar Rally for Bowler Motors and in 2007 driving a buggy. Following motorsport, he invested into, and ran, the Aston Martin Brussels car dealership.

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 Sportspeople from Tongeren Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers World Rally Championship drivers European Rally Championship drivers Belgian rally drivers Peugeot Sport drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers 20th-century Belgian people Hyundai Motorsport drivers Škoda Motorsport drivers