For Loeb the latter became increasingly difficult as the shifting sands of Saudi Arabia made it almost impossible for the driver to find a well-defined route. “We had our first puncture in a fast section of the stage, then shortly afterwards a second and a third puncture,” he said. The BRX driver blamed a faulty GPS system for not warning him (via an electronic alarm sounding) that he was in a slow zone, with even the equipment provider backing him up. Email. After being stranded for over five hours in the middle of the stage, Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena made the decision to return to the bivouac by road, marking an end to their 2021 Dakar campaign. Share. Season 3 of Netflix’s immensely popular series Drive to Survive will arrive in a month, on March 19. “Dakar, we know it’s always a very tough race and every time a new manufacturer enters, you always have some surprises even if we did some good testing. He also attributes some of his subsequent travails to being penalised. “I’m not the pilot, I’m the driver of my co-driver, just bringing him from one point to the other. The established speed was 30 km/h and he passed at 107 km/h. With plans to enter more cross-country rallies and next year’s Dakar with the BRX Hunter, the Frenchman hopes for a future Saudi layout which puts both more emphasis on him the driver and suits his driving style. Dakar 2021 threw everything at Loeb: mechanical failures, navigational issues, sandstorms and more. “Obviously for me the stages were nicer before [on previous Dakars] than now,” Loeb comments. And that causes problems.”. Sometimes a Dakar driver has to use compass directions, at other times just follow the tyre tracks of those that have gone before. “And then I got the penalty, I gained maybe one second because I saw it [the speed limit] a little bit late. So I think some details weren’t really clear in the roadbook and a lot of co-driver were lost in the same place. That's why we were surprised this morning to discover the messages on social networks," Javier Soler, President of the College Stewards told AFP. Bahrain Raid Xtreme refused to make such a complaint. “And then we punctured again (twice), and the truck was not allowed to go into stage because he had ‘retired’.”. In all my participations, in all the stages and in all the speed control zones, I always respect this rule as best I can. Ještě před startem do druhé poloviny maratonské etapy se rozhodl ukončit své letošní dakarské trápení devítinásobný mistr světa v automobilových soutěžích (rallye) Sebastien Loeb. They set out on the first part of the ‘Marathon Stage’, only to suffer their seventh puncture before being hit by a wheel bearing failure, just 30km from the finish. Combined with the penalty, this left him in down in 10th overall. The organisers conceded on the point of navigational difficulties with Loeb by this point, as so many competitors got lost on the fifth stage that they elected to shorten the following one. Loeb has also garnered accolades across the FIA World Touring Championship, 24 Hours of Le Mans, X Games, Formula 1 tests and the FIA GT Series. He was coming very fast and was waiting for a beep. Carlos Sainz likened this year’s Dakar to a “gymkhana”, saying that the rally was overly reliant on navigation, and Loeb’s opinion isn’t much different. In the case of Loeb, who received a five-minute penalty (plus a fine of €300), it is because the GPS registered "an impulse of more than 40 km/h difference with the established speed limit.”, Sainz fed up after navigational drama: "This isn't the Dakar", Loeb slams stewards over Dakar Rally speeding penalty, Netflix reveals release date for season 3 of Drive to Survive, Honda explains key changes to 2021 F1 engine, Dale Earnhardt: How he died and what NASCAR did next, Price awarded Medal of the Order of Australia, The making of South America's first Dakar bikes champion, Al-Attiyah not interested in Dakar return if rules don’t change, Peterhansel: Al-Attiyah lost Dakar 2021 due to "ego", KTM's Sunderland faced "impossible" task on last stage, Dakar 2021: Stage 12 Highlights - Lightweight Vehicles, Dakar 2021: Stage 12 Highlights - Bikes and Quads, Dakar 2021: Stage 12 Highlights - Classic, Barreda runs out of fuel on penultimate Dakar stage, Why Sebastien Loeb has joined forces with an old enemy for Dakar, Loeb retires from 2021 Dakar Rally after latest issue, Loeb focuses on development work after eight-hour stranding, The early setbacks that shaped the WRC's greatest driver Loeb, LCR unwraps Alex Marquez’s 2021 MotoGP bike, Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021, Haas and Williams linked to BWT sponsor move. Loeb now has his sights set on Dakar 2022. The untold stories of Dakar 2021. On another side, we always got lost in the same place as many of the others. It seemed like fate was conspiring against them – but the Dakar wasn’t done yet. We knew that 5000km will be tough and we discovered some little problems, but at the end it’s not so big.”. What Loeb refers to is getting lost in giant dust clouds created by competitors who set off beforehand. For the 2021 Dakar Rally, Prodrive has come up with the BRX Hunter, which will be driven by Sebastien Loeb. So for me it was more looking at it like this. Sebastien Loeb believes the navigational challenges posed to the crews in the 2021 Dakar Rally has taken the emphasis away from the drivers and made it a "race of co-drivers". bahrain raid xtreme driver, sebastien loeb, forced to retire from dakar rally 2021 The eighth stage of the Dakar Rally 2021, was the second part of the marathon stage of this year’s event, with drivers travelling the709km from Sakaka to Neom. Loeb has also added to his experience in the FIA World Touring Championship, 24 Hours of Le Mans, X Games, Formula 1 tests and the FIA GT Series. Loeb was handed a five-minute penalty for exceeding the speed limit in Stage 4 on Wednesday, where he had been the fourth fastest, 2m36s behind winner and factory Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. Sainz leads first stage of 2021 Dakar, Loeb loses 24 minutes. So it’s just not that good to start in order.”. Loeb is returning to the Dakar after a one-year absence to helm the new Bahrain Raid Xtreme outfit, where he will be joined by 2015 winner Nani Roma. And when we passed the car, [we realised] the car was lost. While there are many capable cars entering the Dakar… He arrived in Saudi Arabia with the fledgeling Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme team, driving the new T1 class Hunter car. However, both Loeb and Hyundai WRT team principal Andrea Adamo said … Loeb’s former WRC teammate Sainz picked up where he left off in 2020, topping the opening stage by a slender margin of 25 seconds from Stephane Peterhansel to establish an early X-Raid Mini 1-2. “It doesn’t really matter the speed you go, it’s more to find the waypoints, because we can gain 10 seconds, 30 seconds, one minute, then you lose 25 minutes because your co-driver doesn’t find the way. Loeb and Elena got lost not once but twice on Stage One. The team made the sporting decision to give his remaining spare tyres and parts to teammate Nani Roma, who still had the chance of a good finish. From then on, you have 180 metres to stop. The Frenchman found himself having to channel his inner Parker, feeling at times more like Elena’s chauffeur. “Despite our explanations, but above all despite the confessions of the GPS system provider stating that there was an issue with the equipment in our car today, the jury of the marshals did not want to know anything. Loeb: Dakar 2021 "a race of co-drivers, not drivers" The opening week of this year’s Dakar has proved to be challenging from a navigational point of view, with even some of the most experienced drivers in the field running off course after losing their way in Saudi Arabia’s deserts. Loeb is returning to the Dakar after a one-year absence to helm the new Bahrain Raid Xtreme outfit, where he will be joined by 2015 winner Nani Roma. The fight…, Watch video highlights of an action-packed weekend that included Marc Márquez taking his eighth world title, NASCAR Playoffs, World Endurance Championship, Wales Rally GB and DTM-Super GT races Photo: MotoGP…, The 2011 Motor Sport Hall of Fame was considered another huge success. Sebastien Loeb meyakini sistem navigasi yang sulit pada Reli Dakar 2021 telah mengangkat tekanan dari para pembalap dan menjadikan event ini sebagai perlombaan para navigator. I’m sure if we needed to start the Dakar tomorrow, we the team would be able to solve the problem and we will be fine with that. Yes, I played a little bit on my mobile,” recounts Loeb. So at this point, we lost completely the race.”. However, Motorsport.com has learned that the BRX team did not file a complaint about the penalty - and has no plans to do so in the future. Whatever their trials and tribulations this year, the BRX Hunter’s potential performance combined with the steely determination of the world’s most successful rally driver should make them a force not to be discounted at Dakar 2022. Recounting the story of his Dakar disaster to Motor Sport, Loeb says the issues began early, as an unfamiliarity with the new roadbook system, where competitors are now handed their navigational directions 15 minutes before the start of a stage instead of the day previously, immediately got them off on the wrong foot. As if navigating vast desert and far-stretching rocky plains hadn’t been hard enough, being engulfed in a Dakar-generated sandstorm made things even trickier. Competing in Saudi Arabia for the first time, Loeb found the terrain particularly unforgiving. Loeb had risen to fourth, just one place off the podium placings, after being 22nd on Stage One. The Toyota driver was four minutes and 58 seconds adrift of Peterhansel, the veteran “Mr Dakar” who has won the event a record 13 times on two wheels and four but has yet to take a stage in 2021. So both times, we were following a car and we got lost from that point.”. Created by three-time WRC winner Prodrive. Sebastien Loeb has reacted furiously to the speeding penalty given to him after Stage 4 of the 2021 Dakar Rally, saying "there is no room for incompetence or incompetents". This is information given by the GPS, which is passed on to us in a report. Responding to Loeb’s remarks, Cars Race director Luis Gomez said the French driver exceeded the speed limit by 77km/h in an area demarcated as a 30km/h zone. Loeb, a veteran of four Dakar events who finished second in 2017, knew that blooding the car would be difficult after Covid had severely limited testing. Loeb battled on though and, despite picking up three more punctures, was sixth fastest again on Stage Three to haul himself up the same position in the overall standings. Except that we were lost, because of the car that started in front of us because of the penalties. He went even further on Stage Four, a 209-mile run from Wadi Ad-Dawasir to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. For a better experience, keep your browser up to date. "The GPS beeps every time a waypoint is validated," Castera said. He rowed with officials after being slapped with a five-minute penalty for speeding; his support truck broke down; and new navigation notes left him and experienced co-driver Daniel Elena baffled. The truck had brought the incorrect component due to some lax labelling. Loeb exceeded the speed limit in a controlled area, and was duly slapped with a 5-minute penalty. ASO has explained the reasoning behind the penalty handed to Sebastien Loeb in the 2021 Dakar Rally after the Frenchman labelled … Writing on his social media accounts, Loeb said “ there is no room for incompetence or incompetents” in an event of Dakar’s scale and felt the penalty was too extreme for an offence that would have only gained him "two-to-three seconds". The BRX pair had to wait for the correct part to arrive and spent over 24 hours awake as a result, but took advantage of a rest day to try and at least finish the rally, with all hope of a win long gone. "When he realised it, he slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. Sebastian Loeb has labelled officials at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia as “incompetent” after a dispute over a speeding penalty. The roadbook needs to be perfect I think.”. "From what I understand of what has happened, Sebastien does not pay attention to his co-driver's instructions, but relies on the beep to stop. “It’s the first time I did it in Saudi. In 2020 he equaled his best result: 7th in the general standings. BRX Driver, Loeb, commented: “BRX have big ambitions for the 2021 Dakar Rally and I’m … Loeb and Elena were stranded once more in the desert, and with two punctures and no way to fix them, they were out of the rally. But that was before the 2021 Dakar. And even when it was a bit twisty, there were so many stones that we had to go around – we were only concentrated on avoiding punctures more than going fast. Rally raid legend and three-time Dakar winner Hubert Auriol passed away yesterday at the age of 68. The compass can change but you [sometimes] still need to follow [the tracks made by other cars]. “The cars are very heavy, [and] the ground [is] very hard with big stones. But if you don’t see the lines, you don’t see the tracks, you don’t know where to go. But what does the future hold for the Frenchman…, With the 2021 Formula 1 season fast approaching, teams will unveil cars ahead of winter testing in Bahrain in March. Nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb might have thought he’d seen it all in rallying. Below…, Pierre Gasly bolstered his reputation with a superb season at Scuderia AlphaTauri in 2020, highlighted by his opportunistic win at Monza. The Hunter was unable to continue. Photography by Gustavo Epifanio/Fotop. “For the first time we didn’t do any cross country rallies [in preparation],” the 79-time WRC rally winner said. Loeb enjoyed dune stages in parts – but said he found rocks too much of a headache, “The two times we were really lost, we were a bit unlucky because I was just trying to overtake and I was in the dust of another car,” Loeb explains. That’s not really what I like.”. Loeb: Dakar 2021 Pertarungan Para Navigator, Bukan Pembalap. However, the stewards were unrelenting. Maybe they should give me 15 or 30 seconds [penalty], but five minutes was far too much for that. Editing is complete and the first teaser trailer has been released. ", Loeb had claimed that “in spite of our explanations but especially in spite of the GPS system provider's admission of a problem with his equipment in our car today (something that can happen of course), the jury of stewards didn't want to know anything and decided, sitting loosely behind his desk with the only risk of spilling his coffee when we risk our lives every day in the car, to impose a penalty much higher than what this GPS ‘bug’ made us save.”. Though slightly more sanguine about the situation now, Loeb still feels the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Valiantly as they had fought, their Dakar 2021 was over. For his part, Dakar director David Castera explained how the participants' GPS works in situations of this type, making it clear that the indication of the start of the speed control appears both on the roadbook and on the positioning system. “At the end, it didn’t actually affect my race. This relegated the Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver to seventh place in the stage and the same position in the overall classification, 52m14s minutes down on leader Stephane Peterhansel (X-raid Mini). We had some nice sand stages with a lot of desert and nothing around but also a lot of big stones also. Sign-up now for access to a limited number of articles. The Frenchman was not backward with coming forwards in directing his subsequent ire towards the stewards. The ACO later responded to Loeb’s remarks, saying he exceeded the speed limit by 77km/h and that the Frenchman “does not pay attention to his co-driver’s instructions.” Loeb, who returned to Dakar in 2021 after a one-year hiatus, is still chasing a …