Sébastien Loeb before his accident. DAKAR PRESS TEAM – Gerard Laurenssen
The French driver rolled over during today's stage. His car is too damaged to continue the race, according to the organizers.
Sébastien Loeb is not authorized to continue the Dakar in Saudi Arabia due to the damage to his vehicle sustained in the accident that occurred in the 3rd stage, the organization announced Tuesday evening.“After an inspection (of his Dacia, editor's note) by FIA technicians, the crew was not authorized to start stage 4”, the Dakar rally said on X.
For his ninth participation, the nine-time world rally champion has once again failed to win his first title in this prestigious desert race, so often approached but never achieved (3rd in 2019 and 2024, 2nd in 2017, 2022 and 2023).
Several rolls damaged the vehicle
This is the third time that the 50-year-old Alsatian has had to abandon the Dakar mid-way, after 2018 and 2021. At km 12 of the 327 of the day's special between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Loeb's Dacia went across the road after a bad bounce and rolled several impressive times, 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, more than an hour behind the race leaders. His withdrawal comes the day after that of the title holder, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, also forced to withdraw due to damage to his safety roll bar.