LOEB WHACKS THE DAKAR

A frustrated Sebastian Loeb has fired up about safety on the Dakar 2025.

The nine-time world rally champion was one of the early leaders in his Dacia Sandrider but was taken out of the event by the knock-on effects of a rollover.

His Ultimate-class Sandrider was still fine to drive despite cosmetic changes, but then safety officials from the FIA intervened.

They ruled the car had damage to its rollcage structure and forced Loeb to withdraw.

Loeb described the decision as "frustrating and disappointing".

A similar ruling also took out defending champion Carlos Sainz after his Ford Raptor sustained rollcage damage in a rollover.

Laia Sanz, who had 14 straight Dakar finishes, was also eliminated by the safety scrutineers after a double rollover.

"It's really frustrating to head back to Jeddah instead of being in the car fighting out there. There was still so much to play for," said Loeb

"There were opportunities to grab."

Loeb's reaction to the FIA ruling was backed by another of the Dakar front-runners, his Dacia team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah, as he commented on the Sainz decision.

“It's not killing the race, the problem is that the rules are not clear. I want to race with all the people, also Carlos [Sainz], Seb [Loeb], Laia [Sanz]," said Al-Attiyah.

"Why is Carlos not here? No reason."

He spoke for many people when he said the damage to the Ford Raptor could probably be have been repaired to allow it to continue.

“We can fix it, the team can fix it, why do you say, ‘OK, it's over’?

"We're not in Formula 1, we're in cross-country. How many cars now [left?]. If you go and check carefully, do you find any faults.”

Following his retirement, Loeb talked about the incident with his Dacia.

"I’m honestly at a bit of a loss for words. It wasn’t from pushing too hard; we just got caught out by a bad compression - simple as that," he said.

"There wasn’t much we could do in the moment. These things happen, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

"And then, the decision from the Stewards . . . honestly, it’s hard to swallow. I find it frustrating and disappointing because, in my opinion, it’s not based on solid arguments.

"Of course, safety is super important - I get that. But the line they’ve drawn here doesn’t feel suited to our discipline, where we race in extreme conditions. Our team provided evidence to prove the roll cage was still solid, and I trust them completely. Even visually, you can see the safety wasn’t compromised. So yeah, it’s tough to accept."