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

In 2001, and after several successful seasons, the Mitsubishi Lancer, being a Group A car, found itself outdated and incapable of competing on the same level as the new WRC cars that the other teams were running.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

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 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 ITA9 ESP GBR 55th 2 1994 Opel Team Belgium Opel Astra MON POR KEN FRA GRC ARG NZL FIN21 ITA24 GBR – 0 1995 Opel Team Belgium Opel Astra MON SWE PORRet FRA14 NZL AUS ESP GBR – 0 1996 Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 SWE KEN IDN GRE7 ARG FIN AUS ITA4 ESP4 8th 24 1997 Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 MON16 SWE KEN POR2 ESP FRA ARG GRERet NZL FIN37 IDN AUS7 GBR 9th 8 Toyota Corolla WRC ITA5 1998 Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Corolla WRC MON SWE KEN POR3 ESP2 FRA ARG GRC5 NZL FIN ITA AUS6 GBR 8th 13 1999 Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MONRet SWE9 KENRet POR ESP4 FRA8 ARGRet GRE4 NZL8 FIN10 CHNRet ITA4 AUS4 GBR5 8th 14 2000 Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MON6 SWE8 KENRet POR6 ESP8 ARG5 GRERet NZLRet FINRet CYP8 FRARet ITA8 AUSRet GBRRet 15th 4 2001 Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5 MON6 SWE13 PORRet ESP4 ARG6 CYP5 GRC9 KEN5 FIN10 NZL11 ITA12 FRA12 AUS11 GBRRet 13th 9 2002 Hyundai Castrol WRT Hyundai Accent WRC MONRet SWERet FRA9 ESP10 CYPRet ARGRet GRCRet KENRet FIN9 GERRet ITA28 NZL6 AUSRet GBR8 19th 1 2003 Hyundai Castrol WRT Hyundai Accent WRC MONRet SWE10 TUR10 NZLRet ARGRet GRERet CYPRet GER11 FIN10 AUS8ITAFRAESP 14th 4 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 206 WRC GBR6 2004 Marlboro Peugeot Total Peugeot 307 WRC MON5 SWERetMEXNZLCYPGRCTURARGFIN GER6JPNGBRITA FRA7 ESPRetAUS 10th 9 2022 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRE NZL ESP JPN NC 0

IRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points 2006 Duindisteel Citroen C2 S1600 RSA YPR4 MAD ITA 13th 5 2007 Belgian VW club VW Polo S2000 SAF TUR YPRRet 16th 5 Freddy Loix Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 RUS MADRet ZLIRet SAN11 VAL4 CHN 2008 Peugeot Team Benelux Peugeot 207 S2000 IST8 PORRet YPR1 RUS4 MAD6 ZLI1 AST3 SAN5 VAL1 CHN 2nd 48 2009 Peugeot Team Benelux Peugeot 207 S2000 MON2 CUR4 SAF AZO4 YPR3 RUS MAD6 ZLIRet AST6 ITA4 SCO 3rd 372010 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 MON CUR ARG CAN SAR YPR1 AZO MAD1 ZLI1 SAN3 SCO CYP 4th 36 2011 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 MON2 CAN4 COR3 YAL YPR1 AZO ZLI2 MEC3 SANRet SCO CYP5 4th 123 2012 Duindisteel Peugeot 207 S2000 AZO CAN IRL COR ITA YPR2 SMR ROM ZLI YAL SLI SAN CYP 20th 18

ERC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WDC Points 2013 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia S2000 JÄN LIE CAN AZO COR YPR1 ROM CZE POL CRO SAN VAL 11th 37

References

External links Profile at ewrc-results.com FreddyLoix.com Homepage Rallybase stat page World Rally Archive stat page