Loeb-Lurquin penalized by five minutes on the eve of the finish

The penultimate stage of the Dakar 2022 held false joy for Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (BRX). The Franco-Belgian crew could initially be proud of the special around Bisha (Saudi Arabia) this Thursday, January 13, because their delay on Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) had been reduced by four minutes.

However, a few hours after the timing cell passed, the officials detected an infraction. In an area where speed is limited, the BRX Hunter T1+ of the nine-time world rally champion (WRC) has exceeded this limit.

At 5 min time penalty for speeding has pushed @SebastienLoeb back into P8️⃣ for stage 11 and P4️⃣ for the @OfficialW2RC.# Dakar2022 # W2RC pic.twitter.com/KzaRXhrD05

- Bahrain Raid Xtreme (@BRaidXtreme) January 13, 2022

As a result, the race stewards imposed a five-minute penalty on the day's time. This therefore means that Loeb-Lurquin loses a minute on this stage compared to the leaders of the rally-raid one day from the final arrival. Their disbursement now passes beyond the half hour, at 33'19'' exactly. Their chances of success on this Dakar seem more than compromised.