The Dacia car of French driver Sébastien Loeb had an accident on Tuesday at the start of the special stage of the 3rd stage of the Dakar rally in Saudi Arabia, the organization said.
The images are impressive. But the crew is “unharmed”, according to the organization. Sébastien Loeb and his navigator Fabian Lurquin were victims of a violent accident at the start of the special stage of the third stage of the Dakar rally in Saudi Arabia, Tuesday January 7.
Their Dacia Sandrider rolled several times at kilometer 12. Helicopter footage shows the car taking off after apparently rolling over an obstacle. The rear bodywork was severely damaged, reminiscent of the damage to Carlos Sainz's car, which was forced to retire.
Once the car was stabilized, Sébastien Loeb quickly got out to inspect the damage. “The crew, unharmed, was able to leave,” said the organization, which counted only five minutes of stoppage. The 50-year-old Alsatian, however, had to stop again, at kilometer 63.
49 minutes lost
After this second stop, Sébastien Loeb fell 49 minutes behind provisional leader Mattias Ekstrom. Which put him more than an hour behind in the virtual general classification.
This Dakar is proving difficult for Sébastien Loeb, who had to face fan problems during the second stage.
