How did Sébastien Loeb regain the lead in the Rally of Morocco?

Taking your foot off the gas on the final stretch of the 3rd stage of the Rally from Morocco 2025, Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger have moved closer to victory in the overall standings? The caution and accurate analysis of the Dacia duo could be of crucial importance in the outcome of the final of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).

Indeed, Sébastien Loeb had set the fastest lap times throughout this special, until he caught up with the Ford Raptor T1+ Evo of Mattias Ekström-Emil Bergkvist, who had set off six minutes ahead of him this morning. Perhaps in other circumstances, the Alsatian would have done everything he could to overtake the Swedes in the desert. Not this time.

"We found ourselves in the dust of Mattias (Ekström) over the last 100 kilometers; we stayed behind him because he was going too fast for us to overtake him, Loeb tells AUTOhebdo. We finished the special cleanly."

The nine-time world rally champion (WRC) was well aware that he had a lot at stake on this stage: first place in the general classification. Thanks to his riding, he took the lead again two stages from the finish with a 3'25'' lead over Moraes-Monleon (Toyota). And so what if the stage victory went to Lategan-Cummings' Toyota.

"It was a very good day. Overall, there weren't any particular problems. The special was quite tricky in places, as was the navigation. There were some big, rather brittle bowls, and quite a few stones too."

Careful Baker

As if good things never come alone, Dacia placed two of its 4x4s in the top 5 of the Rally of Morocco, with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin in 5th position. "Nasser is coming back in the rankings, it's great, Loeb rejoices. He had a very, very good stage today, losing only a little time while he was leading the way. It's really impressive."

His navigator Édouard Boulanger shares Loeb's good humor. "For the moment, things are going very well with Seb. There are still two days left where we have to stay in the same frame of mind. We'll do the job until the end."

We know that Nasser is extremely fast in Morocco. He has time to move up the rankings because the special stages are long. Tomorrow (THURSDAY), is announced as a very long stage. We have just passed half of the rally, but there is still a long way to go!

ALSO READ > Rally of Morocco, Stage 3 – Sébastien Loeb-Édouard Boulanger take the lead again!

Interview by Michaël Duforest in Erfoud (Morocco)