Loeb disillusioned after Stage 3: “Al-Attiyah has the field ahead”

Hero one day, zeros in spite of themselves the next day. Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (BRX) were pumped up after their stage success Monday in Al Qaisumah, but the Franco-Belgian crew fell from a height this Tuesday, January 4, still near the same Saudi city.

A puncture at km 20 didn't help to get off to a good start, especially with the responsibility of opening the way in the desert. But it is above all an irreparable mechanical damage in special which made them lose 33'30" on the winners of the day, Carlos Sainz-Lucas Cruz (Audi).

" I think that the longitudinal shaft broke after 10 km and we did the entire special in front-wheel drive, reveals the Alsatian. So we haven't made any progress. Already, just to pass the dunes, you couldn't miss it. The slightest attempt without momentum, and we could have been tanked. Getting out of the sand with two-wheel drive at the front would have been difficult.

It was a complicated special. I don't think I deserve a medal for yesterday, but rather for today. We had a lot of fun and still made it to the end. We did what we could. »

In the general classification, Loeb-Lurquin suffered a big blow in the match between them and Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota). The Qatari and the French count 37'40" margin ! “Nasser has a clear field ahead, recognizes Sébastien Loeb in a disillusioned tone.

We will no longer be able to put pressure on him like we were trying to do until now. There's no one to do that now, he's quiet. For the rest, we will continue to roll, there are not 36 solutions. We'll see if it holds or not. »