Sébastien Loeb in the lead in Morocco but cautious: “Everything can turn around overnight”

You should not upset an Alsatian, especially if he is a pilot. Sebastian Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) reacted brilliantly the day after a difficult stage on the Rally du Maroc by dropping everyone this Monday, October 3 to take the lead in the penultimate round of the W2RC, the World Championship of rally-raid.

🏆 Winners of stage 2 on @MarocRally, @SebastienLoeb and Fabian Lurquin heading a fantastic 1-2-3 for the @prodrive Hunters with Orly Terranova/Alex Haro in second and Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Winocq, third.

Well done! 👏🏼 #RallyRaid
@terranovaorly @GChicherit @GCKmotorsport pic.twitter.com/6quF5bkFEO

- Bahrain Raid Xtreme (@BRaidXtreme) October 3, 2022

“The result is perfect, declared the nine-time world champion WRC upon arrival at the Laâyoune bivouac, in the south of the country. We couldn't have hoped for so much. We had a great special stage. Today, I didn't have many questions to ask myself, I had to attack. »

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Associated with Belgian Fabian Lurquin, Sébastien Loeb beat his BRX teammates Orlando Terranova and Guerlain Chicherit with panache (10'15'' and 18'08''). In the general classification, the margin is almost zero (8'' on Terranova and 4'20'' on Chicherit), but in terms of pure performance, the Frenchman is a step above.

“Fabian’s navigation was very good, confirms Sébastien Loeb. Some competitors had to lose a few feathers while looking for Way-points, it wasn't easy. We had to shoot for three or four minutes, no more. »

The only downside is the recurrence of punctures, and above all, the way in which they occur. The winner of the last Monte-Carlo was surprised.

“There are so many stones on the course that completing a special stage without puncturing is a bit of a question of luck. Of the three punctures I've had since the start of the rally, I only felt one.

The problem was that I had a puncture at the end of the stage when I was no longer in “attack” mode. And when I gave my all, I didn't puncture! It seems like there isn't too much science out there when it comes to tires. There's not much to do. It's about staying focused, riding, and avoiding the pitfalls you can avoid. »

Should we then develop a new tire at BFGoodrich? Sébastien Loeb adds a touch of humor. “We could replace them with chains!” The tires are definitely a problem. If a manufacturer was capable of creating better ones, it would be known. Today, our tires do what they can. But with the terrain offered on this rally, and the speeds at which we are traveling, the tires absorb so much force that we cannot perform miracles.

With small tire sizes (until the end of 2021), it was catastrophic. Now it's much better. Our cars weigh 2,5 tonnes, with enormous absorption capacities, which the tires suffer. Over 300 km, hitting rocks at 140 km/h, it can't work constantly. »

The 2021 BRX Hunter wheels were smaller. © Frédéric Le Floc'h / DPPI

In summary, the tires are not incriminated by Sébastien Loeb, who would still like to find a solution so that the rubbers keep up. But in rally raid, as in any mechanical sport, the driver will always want to go faster and chase every second lost. This invariably involves pushing the limits of your equipment.

Sébastien Loeb thought again on the subject. “Putting foam would be possible, but I’m not sure it will hold up. We drove with air and foam in the tire in the WRC, which made it possible to finish the special stages in the event of a puncture, but not to drive 200 kilometers. More like 20.”

On Tuesday, the British 4×4, powered by a twin-turbo V6 of Ford origin, will have the task of opening the track around Laâyoune. This is the price to pay when you achieve the best time! Finally, the person concerned does not care in the least about his advantageous position at the top of the W2RC against a Nasser Al-Attiyah slowed down by more than 50 minutes in Stage 2. “We forget the points and the championship. We saw that everything could turn around overnight. We are not going to make a prediction and we will do the accounts on arrival (THURSDAY). »