The prospect of a first Dakar coronation is fading for Sébastien Loeb, once again: victim of a rollover, the Frenchman painfully finished the 3rd stage of the rally in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, won by Saood Variawa in the car and Lorenzo Santolino on a motorcycle.
At km 12 of the 327 of the day’s special between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, the Dacia of the 50-year-old Alsatian crossed the road after a bad bounce and made several impressive rollovers, which seriously damaged the vehicle.
The Frenchman and his Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin restarted after a five-minute stop and repairs, but the consequences of the accident were felt for the rest of the race.
“It’s not our favorite day, we lose an hour, we say to ourselves that it’s crap. That’s how it is, we’ll have to continue. We will ride and we will see, even if aiming for victory becomes complicated”he admitted at the end of the special.
Sébastien Loeb finished the course in 4h 20min 12 sec, more than an hour after South African Saood Variawa, 19, who became the youngest stage winner in the premier car category.
This accident occurs the day after the retirement of the title holder Carlos Sainz, who had to give up due to the damage to his roll bar after his Ford Raptor rolled over during the « 48h chrono ».
French driver Sébastien Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin aboard their Dacia Sandrider damaged after several rollovers during the 3rd special of the Dakar rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, in Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2025 / Valery HACHE / AFP
Nine-time world rally champion, Sébastien Loeb is still racing, for his ninth participation, after a first title on the Dakar, so often approached but never won (3rd in 2019 and 2024, 2nd in 2017, 2022 and 2023).
Shortened step
Due to rain on the route, the Dakar rally shortened the route for today’s special to 327 km, compared to the initial 496 km.
In the provisional general classification among cars, South African Henk Lategan (Toyota) retains the lead, 7 min 17 sec ahead of Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah (Dacia) and 9 min 34 sec ahead of Swede Mattias Ekström (Ford). Loeb fell to 16th place, at 1h 14min 45 sec.
On the motorbike, the Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) claimed his first stage victory in seven appearances in the prestigious rally-raid, with a time of 3h 44min 34sec.
French driver Sébastien Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin, after their accident during the 3rd special of the Dakar rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, in Saudi Arabia, January 7, 2025 / Valery HACHE / AFP
In the category, today’s stage gave rise to a fierce duel for the lead of the race between the Spaniard and the South African Bradley Cox (KTM). Penalized by 6 minutes at the finish for speeding, the second finally finished in 14th place, at 7min 21sec.
The day’s motorcycle podium is completed by the Americans Ricky Brabec (Honda) and Skyler Howes (Honda), 4 minutes behind.
In the provisional general classification, the Australian Daniel Sanders (KTM) maintains the lead thanks to his three stage victories in a row, followed by Skyler Howes and the Botswanan Ross Branch (Hero). Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) is in 8th place, at 16min 24sec.
The Dakar rally ends on January 17 in the Empty Quarter desert.