TER - Tour European Rally

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Yannick Willocx, Loeb engineer in the Azores: "I felt useless..."


At 37, Yannick Willocx has experience. Having worked for Skoda and Hyundai, the Belgian has collaborated with Kalle Rovanperä, Esapekka Lappi, Jan Kopecky, Dani Sordo and now Sami Pajari at Toksport. He will remember his Azores rally with Sébastien Loeb.

I didn't know how Sébastien drove, but based on the data we had, we defined a set-up. After a run, he just had a remark about understeer on entry if he brakes a little late. What surprised me the most was that at the end of his analysis, he told me “I am adapting”. I don't know of another pilot who has done this. The most common discourse is rather “you have to adapt the car to my style”. If there is a problem, it is always the car and never the way of driving. Sébastien has the opposite approach to what most of his colleagues do and I really liked it. In the Azores, I felt useless… It was a very positive experience for me. It may be less good for the competitors with whom I will work in the future. (Laughs)

Is it because he quickly finds the limits of a car?


I think the connection between his eyes, his brain, his hands and his feet is better than many. He sees the grip and the things that can disturb the behavior of the car. From the reconnaissance, he was already able to say what it was going to be like in the race.

When you compare his data with that of other pilots, what does that tell you?

We have some well-established theories about grip or how to slow down, and in my opinion Sebastien has a completely different way of using the accelerator pedal. He hardly ever does accelerator + brake at the same time. While the others pass a turn using the left foot, he does it by “playing” with the accelerator. Seb barely touches the brakes. It brakes with very low pressures, which involves very little wheel lock where others push the pedal as if to bend it in half by locking the wheels hard. He knows exactly where he needs to brake, and even with lower pressures he manages to do it later than his rivals.

https://www.autohebdo.fr/actualites/...i-inutile.html