Acropolis – Sébastien Loeb and Isabelle Galmiche abandon the second stage

The image has a nasty taste of déjà vu. Like the Kenya Safari Rally and the Rally from Portugal a few months earlier, Sébastien Loeb and Isabelle Galmiche (M-Sport Ford) are losing all hope of doing well in a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) due to a mechanical problem.

ℹ️ Unfortunately, Seb and Isabelle ran out of time while conducting repairs, and so will be retiring on Saturday.

— M-Sport (@MSportLtd) September 10, 2022

The French crew, winner of the Monte-Carlo this winter with the Puma Rally1 hybrid, will not be able to finish the second stage of the Acropolis Rally (Greece) this Saturday September 10. A few minutes after having consolidated their leadership position at the end of the eighth special stage of the event, the alternator belt gave way. What should have been an effective change in the liaison route turned into an ordeal, with the Alsatian and his mathematics teacher co-driver unable to access the area impacted by the breakage.

Sébastien Loeb and Isabelle Galmiche were unable to repair the breakdown in the time allowed before the ninth special and consequently gave up on continuing their journey this Saturday. They are expected to return on Sunday for the final stage with a heavy time penalty.

Acropolis Rally ❌

We regained the lead this morning at the head of the rally after a good SS8… before the mechanics decided otherwise on the road leading us to the next one 😢 #WRC #AcropolisRally #MSPORTERS #Redbull #SFR #RichardMille pic.twitter.com/EKZRhZiXZm

- Sébastien Loeb (@SebastienLoeb) September 10, 2022

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