Loeb’s dream is over

AREQUIPA: Sebastien Loeb was forced to pull out of the Dakar Rally after a back injury suffered by his co-driver in a disastrous fifth stage won by defending champion Stephane Peterhansel on Wednesday.

As Peterhansel took another important step towards his 14th Dakar title Loeb’s dream of winning his first Dakar was left in tatters after his car twice ran into early sand trouble on the run from San Juan de Marcona to Arequipe in Peru.

The French ace’s hopes of adding a Dakar to his nine world rally championship crowns at the third attempt had appeared encouraging after climbing to second in the standings with success on Tuesday’s fourth stage.

But instead he was left rebooking his flight home after his Peugeot became stuck in the dunes twice, with a truck having to help him out of a sand hole.

Yet it was an injury suffered by co-driver Daniel Elena as they descended a dune that forced Loeb to bring a premature end to his 2018 Dakar 10 days before the finish in Cordoba, Argentina.

“He screams as soon as I go over 30 km/h, I can’t see how we can go on like this,” explained Loeb, second last year. He added later: “It went badly, the dunes are too soft, we did not see the hole, we hit it hard ... It’s over, Daniel is bad, but he’ll be okay. It’s so soft, without the (assistance) truck, we wouldn’t have got out,” Loeb told France Television. AFP