Daniel Elena

Daniel Elena (born 26 October 1972) also known as "Danos" is a Monégasque rally co-driver working most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Between them the pair have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) nine times with Citroën, later competing with Hyundai. Their 79 wins together make him the co-driver with the most victories in the history of the WRC.

Career Elena started rallying in 1992 as co-driver to Christophe Bovini but his first 'full season' came in 1996 with Hervé Bernard in the French national championships.

In 2001, they won both the FIA Super 1600 championship (later J-WRC) in their Citroën Saxo and the French national championship in a Citroën Xsara Kit Car. Becoming an obvious choice for Citroën's WRC team, they made their first start for the manufacturer in the same year, finishing 2nd overall on the 2001 San Remo Rally. A part programme in 2002 included their first win at Rallye Deutschland and in 2003 they became full-time competitors. As team mates to former drivers champions Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, Loeb and Elena outscored them both finishing the season second overall. They went on to take nine consecutive World Rally Championship titles between 2004 and 2012, before Loeb retired from the series in 2013.

When Loeb came out of WRC retirement in 2018 the pair reunited for Citroën again, running three events and winning Rally Catalunya. Hyundai Motorsport offered Loeb a two-year contract running a few events in 2019 and 2020, and Elena once again was his co-driver. Two months later, Elena posted on social media that he had effectively been sacked by Loeb at Prodrive's request because of the poor Dakar result. Rally's most successful pairing of all time separated after 23 years of working together.

Elena has also entered a few rallies as a driver, including the Monte-Carlo Rally, though never outside France.

Loeb and Elena have won Elena's home rally, the famous Monte Carlo Rally seven times (2003–2005, 2007–2008, 2012–2013).

Elena is the first person to have received the Michael Park Trophy, which is now given yearly to the best co-driver.

Personal life

Elena is divorced and has 2 daughters, Romane and Dorine, with his former wife. He and his new partner, Anaïs Reyne, welcomed a daughter, Joy, on 9 October 2020.

Commitment Elena is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Complete WRC results

WRC results

As driver Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Points 1998 Daniel Elena Peugeot 106 Rallye MON36 SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN ITA AUS GBR NC 0

As co-driver Season still in progress.

JWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6Points 2001 Sébastien Loeb Citroën Saxo Kit Car ESP1 GRE1 1st 50 Citroën Saxo S1600 FIN1 ITA FRA1 GBR1