Loeb in turn in trouble on the Dakar

The second stage of the Dakar 2025, in the 48-hour format, is decidedly ruthless this Sunday from its first part, including for the contenders for final victory. After Carlos Sainz, the victim of a big accident while landing a jump but who was able to leave with a cost of almost 45 minutes, it was Sébastien Loeb who lost a lot of time.

The Frenchman, who started far away after deliberately losing time the day before, had been in a good rhythm since the start of the morning. After 325 km, and while the competitors attacked the first lines of dunes of this 47th edition, he was in second place in the special, 3'58 behind his teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah.

The rest unfortunately got tough for the French champion and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin. The two men first let almost ten minutes pass, then they stopped several times: the first time after 409 km, when his teammate Cristina Gutiérrez stopped to help them, then a few moments more late before leaving again.

Although we don't know precisely what it is, the first information is engine problems which are slowing down the progress of the Dacia Sandrider n°219. At the last score, Sébastien Loeb was 29'54 behind the new provisional leader of the event, Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

The competitors will continue to advance in this marathon stage which covers 967 km over two days. At 3 p.m. (5 p.m. Saudi Arabia time), they will stop at the first bivouac on their route to spend the night under the stars, without mechanical assistance and with a ration of food distributed by the organization. They will resume their journey Monday morning at dawn to complete the distance separating them from returning to Bisha.

Avec Mario Galan