Sebastien Loeb, Richard Mille’s latest ambassador from the high-octane world of motorsport, slashed the course record on his debut Pikes Peak appearance last weekend.

The nine times World Rally Champion steered his 875-horsepower Peugeot 208 T16 (weight: 875kg) to the finish line at an altitude of 4,300 metres in 8 minutes 13.878 seconds – two seconds quicker than the time window predicted by his race engineers. Loeb averaged a speed of 145 kph over the 156 corners of the 19.93km climb, which starts at an altitude of 2,800 metres and is so demanding on the car and driver that the rally champion wore a discreet oxygen mask to cope with the high altitudes.

Sebastien Loeb at Pikes Peak sporting an unmistakable Richard Mille watch

Photo: Flavien Duhamel/Red Bull Content Pool

The race team, backed by the seemingly limitless resources of Red Bull, entered in the no-holds-barred Unlimited category, which allows teams total engineering freedom and imposes no regulations. Given the opportunity to show what they could do, the professionals prepared a car that helped Loeb to slash the previous course record, set by Australian Rhys Millen, by over one minute.