Leaving the Dakar 2025 on Tuesday after his accident in the 3rd stage, French driver Sébastien Loeb deplored this Wednesday a disqualification for safety reasons that was “hard to swallow” and “frustrating”.
“The commissioners’ decision yesterday (Tuesday), honestly it’s hard to swallow. I find it frustrating and disappointing because, for me, it is not based on solid arguments“, said the Alsatian in a statement in English sent to the press by his team, Dacia.
During the 3rd stage of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, the car of Loeb crossed the road after a bad bounce and carried out several impressive rollovers, which seriously damaged the vehicle.
Considering that the damage to his roll bar compromised the safety of the crew, the technical stewards pronounced his disqualification in the evening, a scenario similar to that experienced by the title holder Carlos Sainz the day before.
The French pilot and Dacia maintain that the impact on the rollbar that occurred during the rollover did not threaten the physical integrity of the crew. They appealed the decision, but Loeb left the race.
“Of course, safety is very important, I understand that. But the line they have defined does not seem to me suited to our discipline, where we drive in extreme conditions.“, estimated Loeb.
For his ninth participation in the Dakarthe nine-time world rally champion has once again failed to obtain his first title in this prestigious race in the desert, so often approached but never won (3rd in 2019 and 2024, 2nd in 2017, 2022 and 2023).
“With 1h15 behind the leaders, nothing was lost yet. It’s certain that we had quite a hill to climb but there were opportunities to be seized. Unfortunately, that’s how it is…“, regretted Loeb.
