When Loeb and Ogier play zebras

“Being first on the road is good, because no driver has brought a stone onto the road, explained Sébastien Loeb which was in fact to open the debates after his withdrawal the day before. However, it is much more annoying for animals. No car scared them so we can have surprises. This is exactly what he produced this morning. There was a zebra that showed up out of nowhere while we were at full speed. I don't know our top speed, maybe 180 km? I took the wheel and it happened! 100 meters later, it was a giraffe that we had to avoid. I don't know how to estimate the damage a zebra could do, but it must have weighed 300 kg, so the shock would have been violent. "" I still don't understand how we managed not to hit her., confirmed Isabelle Galmiche covered in dust. Fortunately, Seb has very good reflexes. I also saw the giraffe, but it was further away. »

Photo Nikos Katikis / DPPI

Setting off a few cars later, Sébastien Ogier and Benjamin Veillas also had scares in the morning. “ Our level of attack in this loop was correct, explained the eight-time world champion. We tried to take care of the mechanics while having fun. We also had to avoid animals in the three stages. It was mostly zebras. In the first two it didn't cost us much time, because I just had to brake a little. In the last one, however, I really had to slow down the car because there was a group of zebras right in the middle of the road. I saw them from a distance and they didn't seem very motivated to move so we almost had to stop. » The two French people started the afternoon loop by watching the sky. Rain is in fact forecast before the end of the day, which could completely shake up the rankings.

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