Loeb’s assessment of his Dakar: “We were pissed off every day”

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena returned to their Bahrain Raid Xtreme tent around 22 p.m. Monday January 11 in Neom (Saudi Arabia). The Alsatian did not have the same determined face as at the start of the Dakar 2021 and for good reason. We read more of the spite and a slight exasperation after his abandonment during the eighth stage of the test.

The crew was not helped by an avalanche of mechanical problems, including two punctures which definitively took a toll on their morale and the health of the Hunter 4×4. “We were bothered practically every day. We had to repair the broken bearing with the assistance truck (T5) during the marathon stage bivouac but it remained stuck in the special. So we did it ourselves. We also gave Nani a spare tire (Roma) because he is still playing for 5th place overall. »

We must abandon the @dakar The death in the soul …

We are disappointed for the team @BRaidXtreme but we have a lot of lessons to learn from this edition to come back stronger next year #BRX #Redbull #BFGoodrich #Bardahl #Sparco pic.twitter.com/l7vp3iEwo9

- Sébastien Loeb (@SebastienLoeb) January 11, 2021

(Monday morning), So I had a spare wheel and three brake calipers left. But our truck couldn't leave, and the only way it could get to Monday's special was to take the off-special route to return to the bivouac. He explains.

Stranded for several hours, Loeb-Elena were able to see the caravan pass under their noses and chat with friendly competitors like the BPX, Boucou, and former adversaries in WRC, Kris Meeke. In the middle of the plains of Saudi Arabia, the nine-time world rally champion was also able to think about these last two eventful weeks...

“There is no assessment. Finally, the bottom line is that we were pissed off every day. We had no luck. It's really bad luck. Globally, the car is not bad, it has good potential. We were pretty fast when things were going well.

The problems we encountered cost us dearly. A broken triangle is not very complicated to strengthen or change, he says, in reference to the 8 hours spent in the desert last Friday. The wheel bearing is a problem that we have been carrying around since the beginning and that we detected too late to remedy it during testing. We changed them every evening. On Sunday, we changed it ourselves.

I had already experienced difficult days, but not such a Dakar. When you find yourself at 10 a.m. in the general, you no longer have the same motivation nor the same enthusiasm in relation to a real issue. That doesn't take away my motivation to return to the Dakar even if basically, I don't come on one rally to look for solutions (to repair the car) », he concluded, always with refreshing frankness and simplicity despite his status.