Daniel Elena (born 26 October 1972) also known as "Danos" is a Monégasque rally co-driver working most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Between them the pair have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) nine times with Citroën, later competing with Hyundai. Their 79 wins together make him the co-driver with the most victories in the history of the WRC.

Career Elena started rallying in 1992 as co-driver to Christophe Bovini but his first 'full season' came in 1996 with Hervé Bernard in the French national championships. In 1998, he became Loeb's co-driver and quickly developed a strong relationship with him, winning every event they finished in the Citroën Saxo Trophy in 1998, then the overall trophy itself in 1999. The following year with Citroën part-backing the duo, they won the two-wheel drive class of the French gravel title.

In 2001, they won both the FIA Super 1600 championship (later J-WRC) in their Citroën Saxo and the French national championship in a Citroën Xsara Kit Car. Becoming an obvious choice for Citroën's WRC team, they made their first start for the manufacturer in the same year, finishing 2nd overall on the 2001 San Remo Rally. A part programme in 2002 included their first win at Rallye Deutschland and in 2003 they became full-time competitors. As team mates to former drivers champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, Loeb and Elena outscored them both finishing the season second overall. They went on to take nine consecutive World Rally Championship titles between 2004 and 2012, before Loeb retired from the series in 2013.

When Loeb came out of WRC retirement in 2018 the pair reunited for Citroën again, running three events and winning Rally Catalunya. Hyundai Motorsport offered Loeb a two-year contract running a few events in 2019 and 2020, and Elena once again was his co-driver.

Between 2016 and 2019, Loeb entered the famous Dakar Rally with Elena by his side behind the wheel of a modified Peugeot 3008, reaching the podium twice. In 2021 the pair entered in a Prodrive built car but had to retire. Two months later, Elena posted on social media that he had effectively been sacked by Loeb at Prodrive's request because of the poor Dakar result. Rally's most successful pairing of all time separated after 23 years of working together.

Elena has also entered a few rallies as a driver, including the Monte-Carlo Rally, though never outside France.

Loeb and Elena have won Elena's home rally, the famous Monte Carlo Rally seven times (2003–2005, 2007–2008, 2012–2013).

Elena is the first person to have received the Michael Park Trophy, which is now given yearly to the best co-driver.

Personal life

Elena is divorced and has 2 daughters, Romane and Dorine, with his former wife. He and his new partner, Anaïs Reyne, welcomed a daughter, Joy, on 9 October 2020.

Commitment Elena is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Complete WRC results

WRC results

As driver Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Points 1998 Daniel Elena Peugeot 106 Rallye MON36 SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN ITA AUS GBR NC 0

As co-driver Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16Points 1999 Equipe de France FFSA Citroën Saxo Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR ESPRet FRA19 ARG GRE NZL FIN CHN ITA21 AUS GBR NC 0 2000 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Saxo Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRE NZL FINRet CYP GBR38 NC 0 Equipe de France FFSA Toyota Corolla WRC FRA9 ITA10 AUS 2001 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Saxo Kit Car MON15 SWERet POR 14th 6 Citroën Saxo S1600 ESP15 ARG CYP GRE19 KEN FIN28 NZL FRA13 AUS GBR15 Automobiles Citroën Citroën Xsara WRC ITA2 2002 Automobiles Citroën Citroën Xsara WRC MON2 SWE17 FRA ESPRet CYP ARG GRE7 KEN5 FIN10 GER1 ITA NZL GBRRet 10th 18 Piedrafita Sport AUS7 2003 Citroën Total Citroën Xsara WRC MON1 SWE7 TURRet NZL4 ARGRet GRERet CYP3 GER1 FIN5 AUS2 ITA1 FRA13 ESP2 GBR2 2nd 71 2004 Citroën Total Citroën Xsara WRC MON1 SWE1 MEXRet NZL4 CYP1 GRE2 TUR1 ARG2 FIN4 GER1 JPN2 GBR2 ITA2 FRA2 ESPRet AUS1 1st 118 2005 Citroën Total Citroën Xsara WRC MON1 SWERet MEX4 NZL1 ITA1 CYP1 TUR1 GRE1 ARG1 FIN2 GER1 GBR3 JPN2 FRA1 ESP1 AUSRet 1st 127 2006 Kronos Total Citroën WRT Citroën Xsara WRC MON2 SWE2 MEX1 ESP1 FRA1 ARG1 ITA1 GRE2 GER1 FIN2 JPN1 CYP1 TUR AUS NZL GBR 1st 112 2007 Citroën Total WRT Citroën C4 WRC MON1 SWE2 NOR14 MEX1 POR1 ARG1 ITARet GRE2 FIN3 GER1 NZL2 ESP1 FRA1 JPNRet IRE1 GBR3 1st 116 2008 Citroën Total WRT Citroën C4 WRC MON1 SWERet MEX1 ARG1 JOR10 ITA1 GRE1 TUR3 FIN1 GER1 NZL1 ESP1 FRA1 JPN3 GBR1 1st 122 2009 Citroën Total WRT Citroën C4 WRC IRE1 NOR1 CYP1 POR1 ARG1 ITA4 GRERet POL7 FIN2 AUS2 ESP1 GBR1 1st 93 2010 Citroën Total WRT Citroën C4 WRC SWE2 MEX1 JOR1 TUR1 NZL3 POR2 BUL1 FIN3 GER1 JPN5 FRA1 ESP1 GBR1 1st 276 2011 Citroën Total WRT Citroën DS3 WRC SWE6 MEX1 POR2 JOR3 ITA1 ARG1 GRE2 FIN1 GER2 AUS10 FRARet ESP1 GBRRet 1st 222 2012 Citroën Total WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON1 SWE6 MEX1 PORRet ARG1 GRE1 NZL1 FIN1 GER1 GBR2 FRA1 ITARet ESP1 1st 270 2013 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON1 SWE2 MEX POR ARG1 GRE ITA FIN GER AUS FRARet ESP GBR 8th 68 2015 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON8 SWE MEX ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR 18th 6 2018 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroën C3 WRC MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS 13th 43 2019 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHL PORRet ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS 10th 51 2020 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC MON SWE MEX EST TUR ITA MNZ 10th 24 * Season still in progress.

JWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6Points 2001 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Saxo Kit Car ESP1 GRE1 1st 50 Citroën Saxo S1600 FIN1 ITA FRA1 GBR1

Notes

References