Sébastien Loeb is not authorized to continue the Dakar in Saudi Arabia due to damage suffered by his vehicle in the accident that occurred during the 3rd stage, the organization announced Tuesday evening.
“It’s OVER for Loeb and Lurquin (…) After an inspection (of his Dacia editor’s note) by FIA technicians, the crew was not authorized to start stage 4,” indicated the Dakar rally on his X account.
For his ninth participation, the nine-time world rally champion therefore once again fails to win 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 )
This is the third time that the 50-year-old Alsatian has had to abandon the Dakar midway, after 2018 and 2021.
At km 12 of the 327 of today’s special between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Loeb’s Dacia crossed the road after a bad bounce and carried out several impressive rollovers, which seriously damaged the vehicle.
Despite technical problems with the car, Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin managed to finish the stage in pain, falling more than an hour behind the leader of the race.
His retirement comes the day after that of the title holder, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, also forced to retire by damage to his roll bar.
