Even among champions there are champions – drivers who distinguish themselves by positively dominating their chosen form of motor racing over the course of years. In Formula One, that was (and still is) Michael Schumacher. In the World Rally Championship, Sebastien Loeb. At Le Mans, Tom Kristensen. And in the World Touring Car Championship, that place at the top rightfully belongs to Yvan Muller. But now the four-time world champion is preparing to leave the series he has come to dominate over the past decade.
The Frenchman started out, as so many do, in karting, winning the European championship in 1986 before taking the British Formula 2 title in 1992. After switching to tin-tops, he won the French championship in 1995 and the highly competitive British Touring Car Championship in 2003. He switched to the WTCC in 2006 and proceeded to take every record in the books. He has won the championship four times, taken 29 pole positions, 48 race wins, 125 podiums, and 38 fastest laps. Nobody else even comes close.
Proving his multiple talents, he’s also competed in Italian touring cars, Australia’s V8 Supercars series and at Le Mans. He’s even applied his talents off road with entries in the WRC and Dakar, and ten race wins in France’s Andros Trophy ice-racing series.
Having helped Citroën launch its highly successful (but soon to be shuttered) WTCC effort, Muller sits second in the standings for the third season running. At 47, he’s reaching the end of his shelf life in professional racing, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see his name pop up again elsewhere in the coming years.
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