Sébastien Loeb, leading the Rally-raid of Portugal: "I had a lot of fun driving"

Sébastien Loeb is the new overall leader of the Rally-Raid of Portugal. Partnered with Édouard Boulanger, the Alsatian driver set the fastest time on Thursday's second stage. Run between Grândola and Badajoz in Spain, this 377km special stage went well for the French duo. Loeb and Boulanger led at every intermediate checkpoint throughout the day, always maintaining a slight advantage over the leaders. Toyota Hilux. In the final stretch, Seth Quintero and Andrew Short (Toyota) dropped back, leaving Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena (Toyota) to lead the final sprint. The South African driver finished just 9 seconds behind Loeb!

« It was a very contrasting stage, the Frenchman confided upon arrival. The start was really wet, with lots of fast sections through the forest. Then, as the route became more winding, the track gradually dried out as the stage progressed. Conditions became quite good, although there were still some large puddles in places. Overall, the grip was good, but it was still a long day. »

« There were also a lot of short sections, with neutralizations, road closures, speed-restricted zones… It wasn't easy to manage. Despite that, I tried to find a good rhythm. I pushed hard on the twisty sections, while remaining a bit cautious in the earlier zones. The feeling with the car was excellent, we didn't encounter any problems, so it was a very good day. »

"In this region, starting at the front is generally not an advantage. In previous years, we've seen a lot of sweeping. But if the conditions remain wet, that could change things. We'll see." Everyone is attacking hard. The stages are really enjoyable to drive; I had a lot of fun behind the wheel. We'll try to keep this pace going. I don't yet know how much opening the road will penalize us. We saw today that João (Ferreira), who was opening the road, lost quite a bit of time. I hope that won't be the case for me. »

The local rider lost over three minutes today. The third stage will take place this Friday, a 296-kilometer special stage around Badajoz.

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