Loeb compelled out of Dakar 2025 on security grounds after crash

Dacia star Sebastien Loeb has been compelled to withdraw from the 2025 Dakar Rally on account of a barrel roll on Tuesday, with the FIA deeming his automobile too broken to proceed.

Loeb’s Dacia Sandrider flipped over initially of the third stage between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, leaving items of bodywork scattered throughout the sand.

Though the Frenchman was in a position to full some fast repairs and make it to the bivouac by the tip of the day, albeit after a time lack of almost an hour, the FIA arrived at Dacia’s camp later within the day to conduct an intensive analysis of his automobile.

The regulatory physique wished to make certain that any deformation to the construction was throughout the set restrict and Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin could be protected contained in the cabin in case of a repeat incident.

Following the overview, it concluded that injury sustained to the automobile was merely an excessive amount of for them to proceed, forcing their untimely exit from the sequence.

Loeb’s retirement from the rally early follows reigning champion Carlos Sainz Sr’s withdrawal after his Ford Raptor suffered roll cage injury after a rollover throughout the 48-hour Stage 2.

Laia Sanz additionally needed to exit the occasion on security grounds after one of many bars on the roll cage of her Century CR6-T was displaced by simply 2mm in a crash on Saturday. It ended her streak of labeled Dakar finishes relationship again to her first look within the bikes class in 2011.

Toyota driver Henk Lategan holds a small however snug 7m17s lead over Loeb’s team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah heading into the fourth stage on Wednesday, a 415km take a look at between Al Henakiyah and Al-Ula. 

Al-Attiyah, a five-time Dakar winner, is now Dacia’s final remaining contender within the rally, with Cristina Gutierrez having retired from Stage 2 with a damaged steering rack. She was in a position to rejoin the rally on Tuesday as per WRC-style guidelines launched for the primary time in 2022, however is not within the combat for general victory.

Images from Dakar Rally Stage 3