Returning to the Al Henakiyah bivouac on Tuesday shortly before dark, Sébastien Loeb still had hope of repairing the damage to his Dacia. But his accident at the 12th kilometer of the 3rd stage, which saw him roll over at high speed, had too serious consequences, well beyond the hour lost in the ranking. In the evening, the sports commissioners informed him of his disqualification.
After inspecting the French driver’s Dacia, the FIA technical stewards came to the same conclusion as for Carlos Sainz’s Ford on Monday: the car’s roll bar is too damaged to let him race again. For his ninth participation in the Dakar, Loeb therefore stopped with a retirement. Still without final victory.
