Loeb already out of contention for victory at Rallye du Maroc

Sébastien Loeb is already out of the race for victory at the Rallye du Maroc following a mechanical problem on his Peugeot 2008 DKR2015+ which occurred in the first stage won by Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

Published on 05/10/2015 à 17:51

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Loeb already out of contention for victory at Rallye du Maroc

Le Rally of Morocco got off to a bad start for Peugeot with the 339km long Zagora Loop serving as the first stage. The big victim of this start of the ordeal is Sébastien Loeb which makes its competition debut with the DKR2015+ version of the 2008 with the aim of preparing for the 2016 Dakar.

The nine-time world champion WRC was among the best before encountering a turbo problem forcing him to stop just 35km from the finish. The Frenchman was towed by a competitor at the end of the day and reached the finish line more than three hours late (video interview).

At the wheel of the brand new 2008 DK16 (see: AUTOhebdo n°2030), Carlos Sainz also encountered problems. While occupying the provisional first place, the Spaniard lost around four minutes following a puncture and finally set the fourth time, two minutes behind the scratch achieved by Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota Overdrive).

The Saudi, who will open the road in the second stage contested this Tuesday, October 6, was 17 seconds ahead of the Toyota of Vladimir Vasilyev and 1'38 the Mini X-Raid of Nasser Al-Attiyah. As for Mikko Hirvonen (Mini X-Raid), the Finn set the 12th fastest time, almost 17 minutes behind the leader.

Results of the first stage