WRC France: Sebastien Loeb fears rain will hamper victory bid

The 39-year-old Citroen star will start his fourth and final rally of this season from seventh on the road as the running order on asphalt is set by championship positions.

With mixed weather forecast for the event, which starts from Strasbourg on Thursday afternoon, that position could seriously hinder Loeb's hopes of repeating his 2010 and '12 wins in Alsace.

Loeb's first victory on the Strasbourg-based event came in 2010 came in wet conditions, where running anywhere other than first on the road made victory all-but impossible. Drivers cutting corners pulled mud onto the road and made the surface progressively worse.

"If the conditions are wet," said Loeb, "I will not be in the best position starting seventh on the road. But we will try to finish our WRC career the best way possible."

Nine-time champion Loeb admitted he expected his final WRC outing, 14 years after he started at the sport's highest level, to be an emotional experience.

"For sure when I will take the start of the rally, I will feel a bit strange because it's the end of an amazing adventure," he said. "And I will realise that it's my last rally.

"Yes [I will feel emotional] to finish my WRC career in my hometown with all of my family and friends. I think it's really symbolic."