Energetic Elena elated

Career milestones are to be celebrated. There are few milestones as distinguished as a 150th WRC start. That is what Daniel Elena, the world’s best co-driver will notching up on WRC Rally Australia next weekend.

The winner of seven WRC titles, Elena has taken on 148 events alongside Sebastien Loeb and has contested two Rallye Monte Carlo events as driver in 1997 and 1998. To date, he has claimed 66 wins and 102 podium results along with his seven WRC Co-Drivers’ Championship trophies.

According to BestofRallyLive.com, the Michelin WRC website, Elena’s WRC debut was not in 1998, but rather in 1997 when he partnered with Olivier Campana to compete in part in their first world championship round within the framework of the “Challenge Prince Albert de Monaco” which was run as part of the Rallye Monte-Carlo.

“It was my first rally, and my first off; on the penultimate stage when we were leading our class by 2½ minutes, a really stupid mistake,” said Elena. “I can easily remember the date of our first win on August 26, 2002, in Germany, because my daughter was born three days afterwards. I nearly missed her birth.”

The 2004 Tour de Corse handed Loeb and Elena their first world title: “If you’d told me I’d be world champion one day when I started out in this sport, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s a dream come true.”

But that memory reminds Elena of one of the more cruel moments of his career: “Michael Park’s fatal accident in September 2005. We got to know each other in 2000 when I was competing with Seb in a Toyota Corolla. Michael was just starting out with Bakhashab. ‘Beef’ and I became close mates. I was profoundly marked by his death. It changed my life, but that’s part of our job.”

Daniel recalls making the odd mistake (including the ‘130++’ pacenote in Japan, and running out of fuel once in Turkey) before the subject switches to Rally Finland, an event which gives co-drivers an unforgettable buzz. “This year, we had a perfect run on ‘Leustu’, the first stage of the last day. I’ll never forget one year on ‘Ouninpohja’, either, when Seb was in incredible form.”

Along with Loeb, Elena’s signed for two more years at Citroën: “I’m delighted. Everything we have done, win or lose, we have done together. I couldn’t not carry on without him. I enjoy the sport as much as ever and I still have the winning instinct. On top of that, they speak French at Citroën, and the food is good, too!”