Loeb ruled out of Dakar 2025 due to safety concerns after crash

Dacia star Sébastien Loeb was forced to withdraw from the 2025 Dakar Rally on Tuesday as a result of a barrel roll, with the FIA ​​deeming his car too damaged to proceed.

Loeb’s Dacia Sandrider overturned at the start of the third stage between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, leaving pieces of bodywork scattered in the sand.

However, the Frenchman was able to complete some quick repairs and reach the bivouac by the end of the day, although after a time loss of about an hour, the FIA ​​arrived at Dacia’s camp at the end of the day to thoroughly evaluate him. car.

The regulator wanted to ensure that any structural deformation was within prescribed limits and that Loeb and his co-driver Fabien Lurquin would remain safe inside the cabin in the event of a repeat incident.

After review, it was concluded that the damage caused to the car was too great for him to continue, forcing him to exit the series prematurely.

Loeb’s early retirement from the rally followed the withdrawal of defending champion Carlos Sainz Sr. after his Ford Raptor suffered roll cage damage after a rollover during Stage 2 of the 48 Hours.

Leia Sainz also had to bow out of the event on safety grounds after a rod in his Century CR6-T’s roll cage was displaced by just 2 mm in a crash on Saturday. This ended his streak of classified Dakar finishes with his first appearance in the bike category in 2011.

Toyota driver Henk Letgen holds a small but comfortable lead of 7m17s over Loeb’s teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah entering Wednesday’s fourth stage of the 415km test between Al Henakiyah and Al-Ula.

Five-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah is now Dacia’s last remaining contender in the rally, with Cristina Gutierrez retiring from Stage 2 with a broken steering rack. She was able to rejoin the rally on Tuesday under WRC-style rules introduced for the first time in 2022, but is no longer in the battle for overall victory.