Sébastien Loeb already disillusioned in Morocco: “Quite far from his head from now on”

Lovers of superstition will end up watching with which foot Sébastien Loeb enters the passenger compartment of his BRX Hunter T1+; the right or the left? Of the three rally-raids contested as part of the World Championship of the specialty (W2RC) in 2022, the Alsatian has always suffered setbacks from the first stages. The Rallye du Maroc was not lacking.

ALSO READ > Rally of Morocco, Stage 1B: Al-Rajhi starts the race, Loeb struggles

The nine-time world rally champion (WRC), arrived at the top of the general classification by a single point ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) lost big this Sunday October 2 on the road to Tan-Tan. Two punctures and a change of suspension triangle made him lose 23'40'' on the leader of the event Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) and 20'40'' on Nasser Al-Attiyah from Stage 1B.

P3️⃣ to the prologue ✔️

The serious things begin tomorrow on the Rallye du Maroc 👊🏻#BRX # W2RC #BFGoodrich #Redbull #SFR #RichardMille #Vulcanet #Sparco #indianmotorcyclefrance pic.twitter.com/YlbnITH7hT

- Sébastien Loeb (@SebastienLoeb) October 1, 2022

Enough to make the winner of the 2022 Monte-Carlo Rally a bit disillusioned when he arrives at the bivouac. “This is not how we wanted to start the rally,” he walks forward, hands on hips. “We are quite far from the lead now. We still changed the upper right front triangle quite quickly. I was driving, then my steering wheel was getting more and more crooked after 20 km. The triangle must have bent, I think. After that the pace was pretty good. »

Is the 4×4 assembled by the British from Prodrive robust enough? Sébastien Loeb does not venture to formulate this question in this way, but we feel a certain questioning emerging regarding the suspension triangle.

“I think we need to strengthen a little (the car). The track was rough in places, but not excessively so. (The triangle) is a bit of a fragile part, but on the other hand, it's something we've rarely broken so far. The part is very thin compared to the size of the car, and it is not new. »

Sébastien Loeb aficionados remember the incredible disappointment of the 2021 Dakar. So brand new because it had never been entered in competition, the BRX Hunter T1 had broken several wishbones, until having to wait for the assistance truck in the middle of the night... who didn't have the right part in his cargo!

ALSO READ > The AUTO Collectorhebdo dedicated to Sébastien Loeb available

Another weak point on this stage, the puncture of two tires surprised the French driver. “With 10 km to go, we had a second puncture. We decided not to change the wheel, but we should have. The ground was becoming too rough, I was afraid of smashing the car, so I slowed down and lost 4'30'' in the last intermediate. »

Refreshed and ready in BRX red to go through any valley on the rally; here's Seb and Fabian's Prodrive Hunter in all his magnificent glory for the @MarocRally (I.e.

Isn't
It
Just
Fantastic 😎#cantstoplookingatit@SebastienLoeb @prodrive #teambahrain 🇧🇭#rallyraid pic.twitter.com/Tone9guueG

- Bahrain Raid Xtreme (@BRaidXtreme) September 30, 2022

The Habs recognize an error of judgment on this incident. “By replacing the tire, I would have only lost 2 minutes. At the time, I decided to continue because the tire pressure gauge indicated (a value between) 0.8-0.6 bar. By taking it slowly, I thought the tire would hold up, but it didn't.

I don't know where these punctures come from. I didn't see anything coming, nor felt anything. It was Fabian who warned me, saying “we had a flat tire”. I hadn't even imagined it! »