Loeb recounts his difficult day: “The feeling of wasting an hour”

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena had voluntarily calmed the ardor of the supporters before the start of their fifth Dakar. The Franco-Monegasque duo, for their return after an absence, did not know what to expect at the wheel of their new BRX Hunter 4×4. In the end, maybe it was better this way.

Indeed, from the first stage, this Sunday January 3 between Jeddah and Bisha (Saudi Arabia), the couple suffered three punctures as well as gardening in good and proper form! Upon his arrival at the bivouac, Sébastien Loeb spoke with David Richards, the boss of Prodrive and Team Director of Bahrain Raid Xtreme before discussing with the media including AUTOhebdo.

“We started by gardening from the 15th km, for a quarter of an hour, says the pilot. We were completely lost in the middle of the mountain. After a while, we said to ourselves: “Since we can’t find the trace, let’s give up and turn around.” That was motivating”, ironically blurts out the former pilot Peugeot en rally-raid.

Wheel change test
Start of adaptation to the tablet / road book

It was our prologue for us having not driven in 2020 in Rally-Raid... It's good, we are ready, we can go

PS: Non-contractual photo, it was not straight # Dakar2021 pic.twitter.com/9gR4SPyXMj

— Daniel Elena (@DanosElena) January 3, 2021

“Then we were in the dust of other cars. It was complicated, we got lost again. I think (Stéphane) Peterhansel overtook us. There, I said to myself: “Damn, he started 14th and he is in front of us, even though we were 10th at the start, and we only did 30 miles! »»

Back on the straight and narrow, the Chasseur (that's the name of his car) was then hit by punctures. A problem which leaves the Alsatian perplexed, but which could be explained by the change of equipment between the Peugeot buggies and the 4×4 BRX. “I don't know how the first two punctures happened. We were driving “quietly” compared to the buggy and in a straight line I had a puncture, twice.

From there, I ride slowly, because I only had a spare wheel after 100 miles (out of 277). Then, I go 80 km further. The ground was broken, hell to ride, the stones were immense. »

Curiously, the 24 minutes lost against the Mini buggies surprised Sébastien Loeb in a good way. “I didn't have much fun, but I expected worse in terms of the delay. I felt like I wasted an hour. It was a nightmare for about three hours. I've rarely done such a lousy special. »