The years pass and, unfortunately for Sébastien Loeb, the bad luck continues. The nine-time world rally champion, still looking for his first victory in the Dakar after being on the podium five times, experienced major problems during the first part of the marathon stage scheduled for this Sunday and Monday in the Saudi desert. The race is still long, but the Alsatian has already jeopardized his chances of final victory.
“When it’s electronics it’s always serious”
After finishing almost 15 minutes behind the winner during the first stage on Saturday, Loeb was forced to stop several times this Sunday, including once for a good quarter of an hour. “We are waiting for more precise information […] but we were able to identify an electronic problem, reported Tiphanie Isnard, the boss of the Dacia Sandriders team, speaking to La Chaîne L’Equipe. We’re there, Sébastien is gone, that’s the main thing. »
The major problem for Loeb is that this incident occurs during the marathon stage. That is to say that this Sunday evening, he will sleep in a bivouac, without assistance. “When it’s electronics it’s always serious. We can hardly change the part, there is a diagnosis to be made and we cannot send our engineers,” recalled the director of her team. The Alsatian will therefore have to fend for himself, with his co-driver Fabian Lurquin, to repair what can be repaired and leave Monday for the day.
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In the general classification, Loeb is now 33 minutes behind the leader, Yazeed al-Rajhi. Also note that during this Sunday, Carlos Sainz rolled over. The Spanish title holder took advantage of the help of Mitch Guthrie Jr, on the other M-Sport Ford, to leave after around half an hour of repairs. Sainz is 50 minutes behind the leader.
Morocco
