It’s a race that takes place on all surfaces and in all conditions, from ice-slick roads to mud-soaked gravel. Monsoon rains and barrages of hail can’t stop it, and it tests the limits of the best drivers in the world every month of the year. Sébastien Loeb has become a living legend in this arena of racing. Along with his co-driver, he has won the World Rally Championship title five consecutive years, amassing a record 47 wins to become the most successful rally driver in history. Sébastien trusts his vision to Oakley optics, and Oakley are honoring him with this special edition of ANTIX. You’ll find Sébastien’s signature throughout this edition of ANTIX laser etched at the lower edge of the lens and screen printed inside the right stem. The work of art is completed with checkered Square O icons representing the checkered flag.
Glare isn’t just a performance killer. With the road conditions and speeds of rally driving, it can rob a racer’s eyes of critical information, and the wrong split-second decision can lead to catastrophe. That’s why this special edition comes with Oakley HDPolarized optics, which filters out 99% of reflected glare and provides razor-sharp clarity for times when performance is on a razor’s edge. Oakley HDPolarized optics are made with a process that eliminates the visual distortion and haze common with conventional polarized lenses. The Sébastien Loeb Signature Series ANTIX is also enhanced with a Grey lens hue that helps maintain color recognition in bright sunlight.
Part of the unique styling of Oakley ANTIX is the single continuous lens, and crafting that much curvature required us to push the limits of optics. Oakley developed HIGH DEFINITION OPTICS® (HDO®) for eyewear like this, and their POLARIC ELLIPSOID™ lens geometry ensures clarity across extreme contours that extend peripheral vision and improve side protection. Performance meets ANSI Z87.1 standards for optical clarity and ANSI Z87.1 basic standards for impact resistance. On top of that, Oakley's pure PLUTONITE® lens material filters out 100% of all UVA, UVB and UVC. The lens is mounted in a comfortable frame of lightweight, stress-resistant O MATTER®, engineered with dual-action cam hinges and a Three-Point Fit that keeps the optics in precise alignment while ensuring the frame touches only the sides of the head and the bridge of the nose.
Includes a custom MICROCLEAR™ bag for lens cleaning and eyewear storage.
Durability and all-day comfort of lightweight, stress-resistant O MATTER® frame material
Precision and durability of sculpturally integrated hinge mechanisms with dual-action cams
Optimized and extended peripheral view plus enhanced side coverage of POLARIC ELLIPSOID™ lens geometry
Comfort and performance of Three-Point Fit that holds the lens in precise optical alignment
Minimized glare via technology that produces the best polarized lenses on the planet
Optical precision and performance that meets ANSI Z87.1 standards
Impact resistance that meets ANSI Z87.1 basic standards
UV protection of PLUTONITE® lens material that filters out 100% of all UVA, UVB, UVC and harmful blue light up to 400nm
Metal icon accents in Square O design
The brilliant rise
As a pillar of the Citroën team, Sébastien wasn’t getting bored. In 2001, he entered for the French Championship on asphalt road with the Xsara and for the World Super 1600 with a Saxo. The duo Loeb-Elena won on both courts with five wins for five Super 1600 races.
Guy Fréquelin pushed more and more his talented driver. Sebastien entered for the Rallye San Remo with a Xsara WRC. He scored his first world scratch times and was very close to “Tarmac Master” himself (Gilles Panizzi) but he finished 2nd.
Sebastien came as a bombshell to the Rally Planet: a beginner at this level had never done such a first race before.
Naturally, he joined the WRC team for the season 2002. That was a training season since Sebastien only took part in seven events. He lost his Monte Carlo win further to complaints but he achieved a victory in Germany with panache, what confirmed that he was an opponent who would have to be reckoned with.
2003, first full WRC season. In the Citroën Team, with Dominique Heintz as opener, Sebastien had colleagues of an outstanding calibre: Carlos Sainz and Colin Mc Rae.
They had to resign themselves… Sebastien won three rallies (Monte Carlo, Germany, San Remo), accumulated the podiums and lost the supreme title for only one point. Nobody knows and nobody will never know if he could have overtaken Peter Solberg during the famous Rally of Great Britain. Everybody knows he was asked to guarantee the Manufacturers’ title. But what an achievement!
Vice-World Champion for his first real season and he offered with his colleagues the Manufacturers’ title to Citroën.
