Loeb and Elena abandon the Dakar

The ordeal on the Dakar 2021 ended this Monday January 11 for Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (Bahrain Raid Xtreme). The crew, back on the rally-raid after a two-year break, abandoned during the eighth stage between Sakaka and Neom in Saudi Arabia.

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

Setting out with a 4×4 Hunter in poor condition (3 brake calipers, 1 spare wheel, 1 single cylinder) during this second phase of the marathon stage, the Alsatian driver suffered two punctures at km 81 of a special which numbered 375. Without sufficient spare wheels, the duo preferred to return via the connecting road to the bivouac at the end of the day.

In fact, their support truck had not reached the finish of the previous stage on time and could not provide enough spare wheels for the two BRX Hunters entered. Loeb-Elena played the team race and gave their wheels to Nani Roma and Alex Winocq.

The nine-time world rally champions (WRC) will not keep happy memories of this first adventure with the English structure Prodrive. A multitude of mechanical failures disrupted their route, from the first stage with three punctures. In the space of eight days, the 4×4 suffered the trifle of 12 punctures!

Unlike his Spanish teammate Nani Roma, extremely consistent and economical with his mount (5th overall), Sébastien Loeb only achieved a fifth best place during the third stage.

Later, a 5 minute penalty for speeding in a slow zone caused an unusual swerve on social networks for the champion, who was going to lose 10 hours anyway due to a broken rear triangle anda defect in the marking of a spare part in the BRX support truck.

This is the first time in five participations that Loeb-Elena has not set any scratch times on a Dakar. They had previously abandoned in 2018, planted in a hole along the dunes of South America.