Silk Way Rally – Bruno Famin: Loeb’s car is “heavily damaged”

Leader of Silk way rally before this ninth stage between Urumqi and Hami, Sébastien Loeb lost all chance of winning the regular rally-raid between Russia and China after being trapped in a hole this Monday.

Forced to repair his Peugeot 3008 DKR Maxi on several occasions, notably with the help of his assistance, the nine-time world rally champion reached CP2 with a delay of more than seven hours and finally decided to reach the Hami bivouac by road.

“For the moment, we do not have much information on the situation of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, other than that they are in good health, explains Bruno Famin, boss of Peugeot Sport. We know that they still have many miles to go and that the car is heavily damaged.

Only when the car returns to the bivouac will we be able to say more. In any case, what happened today is part of the race. This is exactly the kind of thing that happens on a rally as difficult as the Silk Way Rally. »

Peugeot still in contention for victory

After Stéphane Peterhansel's problems in the first week and Cyril Despres' loss of time, Sébastien Loeb remained the only Peugeot driver spared, and left control of the race to Cyril Despres, who can aim for a second consecutive victory on the Silk Way Rally. Bruno Famin, however, wants to be extremely cautious given the scenario of the event and the special stages remaining.

“What is positive is that we still have a Peugeot in the lead, that of Cyril Despres, and that we add an additional stage victory to our record thanks to Stéphane Peterhansel, continues the manager of Lion.

What happened is further proof that anything can happen and nothing can be taken for granted. With only one car in the lead, the road to Xi'an will seem very long. This week's stages are particularly difficult. I prefer not to make any predictions. »