Loeb-Lurquin escape time penalty

The Dakar 2022 is being contested in the Saudi desert but also in the race commissioners' office. This Monday January 10, Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (BRX) escaped a time penalty for not having retrieved one of their spare wheels during the eighth stage.

The Franco-Belgian crew had set the third time behind Mattias Ekström-Emil Bergkvist and Stéphane Peterhansel-Édouard Boulanger (Audi), but had above all achieved a good operation in the general classification by erasing 7'01'' from the leaders of the rally-raid, Nasser Al-Attiyah et Mathieu Baumel (Toyota).

However, the BRX Hunter T1+, already the victim of a puncture at the start of the special, lost the second spare wheel en route, without Loeb-Lurquin realizing it, as the nine-time world champion explained. rallies (WRC) at the arrival :

“We drive at a fast pace until neutralization, and then we realize that we have lost our second spare wheel because the strap has broken! We had 250 km left with no room for error. I was careful in the stones, I didn't want to take the risk of puncturing. I knew we were having a good time. I said to myself: “It would be stupid to lose everything there. » I preferred to play it “cool” at the end. I think at the end of the story it's not so bad. »

Here is what the Sporting Regulations for the World Championship stipulate: rally-raids (W2RC):

51.4.1: Any wheel mounted on a vehicle or installed inside a vehicle during assistance must reach the next assistance park/Bivouac or the following remote assistance area. Under no circumstances is it permitted to abandon tires, wheels or spare parts inside or outside these areas.
51.4.2: Competitors of vehicles from the FIA ​​groups still in the classification of the current stage can exchange spare parts during the Selective Sector. The exchange of wheels/tires is not authorized when they have been marked by the scrutineers for the current stage.

Summoned by the commissioners at the end of the day in Wadi Ad-Dawasir, David Richards, the President of Prodrive and founder of Bahrain Raid Xtreme, defended himself by claiming involuntary fault, as expressed by Sébastien Loeb.

The commissioners validated this version of the facts: " The pilots (because the incident also took place on Orlando Terranova's 4x4. Editor's note) had no influence on the loss of a spare wheel and therefore there will be no sanction taken against the crews. »

No punishment for Loeb-Lurquin, of course, but BRX will have to pay within 48 hours ofa fine of 10 euros including 000 suspended in the event of a repeat during the last four stages of the Dakar 2022.