Sebastien Loeb believes tyres have turn into the decisive weak level within the Dakar Rally after his 2026 marketing campaign was derailed by a string of punctures.
World Rally Championship legend Loeb arrived in Saudi Arabia with a renewed hope of scoring that elusive Dakar win, having failed to take action in his earlier 9 participations.
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However the Frenchman’s problem unravelled on Stage 3 when he ran out of spare tyres regardless of driving at “20% of the automotive’s potential”, leaving him “virtually at a standstill”.
Punctures continued to disrupt his marketing campaign, however he step by step recovered within the second week, capitalising on navigation errors from Ford drivers and the technical points that struck Toyota’s lead runner .
. Whereas reliability has traditionally performed a significant function within the Dakar, Loeb believes the equation has now shifted.
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“Effectively, the issue is that right now’s vehicles are extraordinarily highly effective, extraordinarily sturdy, and really comparable in efficiency, so to make a distinction, you must push onerous,” he instructed the media together with Motorsport.com.
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#219 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Sebastien Loeb
“General, vehicles are dependable and strong. The one factor that breaks down is the tyres, really. In any other case, there’s not a lot that breaks on vehicles. You possibly can drive very quick, however you must keep away from getting a puncture, and that is what I did not handle to do that yr.”
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Loeb’s frustration stemmed from the truth that the punctures he suffered have been unpredictable, particularly as he traversed by rocky terrain within the opening week.
BFGoodrich modified the interior construction of its cross-country tyres this yr, with the objective of lowering injury to the tread floor. It was really profitable in that regard, however the change in compound had the inadvertent impact of constructing the sidewall extra inclined to wreck.
“It could be good to enhance them,” Loeb mentioned of the tyres. “This yr, we had very troublesome terrain when it comes to rocks and so forth. Now we have vehicles which might be fairly heavy, extraordinarily sturdy and really highly effective, so sooner or later, our restrict when it comes to breakage is the tyres.
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“It is actually troublesome to seek out that restrict, to know the way a lot strain to place in in order to not get a puncture. Typically you drive flat out over the rocks and you aren’t getting a puncture; generally you drive slowly and also you get a puncture. It is very onerous to seek out the fitting tempo, and I do not even assume there actually is one.”
Loeb’s team-mate suffered comparatively few punctures and drove steadily to chalk up his sixth Dakar win.
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#299 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah
“Possibly we must always ask Nasser how he does it, as a result of he will get fewer punctures. We will see it, we all know very nicely that we have to do […] on the tyres for the approaching years,” mentioned Loeb.
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Aside from an influence steering subject throughout the second week, which he needed to restore himself because of the marathon stage guidelines, Loeb prevented any critical mechanical issues, reinforcing his views that tyres at the moment are the limiting issue.
“Given what we ask of our vehicles, it is inevitable that one thing will break. It is a part of the sport, it is nonetheless a motor sport,” he mentioned.
“Contemplating what we put them by, they’re extraordinarily strong. Aside from that [power steering issue], it is true that we have not had any issues, whether or not with the followers, the wishbones, the bits and items, the tie rods, all the things that used to interrupt, it hasn’t damaged. So the group has actually carried out a superb job.”
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Whereas Loeb is but so as to add a Dakar win to his 9 WRC titles, he mentioned ending on the cusp of the rostrum wasn’t a catastrophe for him.
“Now we have no regrets, we tried,” he instructed L’Equipe. “We all know that Ekstrom is formidable in one of these dash stage – he has been all through the rally. So we tried, we had a superb stage, not too many errors, but it surely wasn’t sufficient.
“General, we will not remorse a lot. Ending fourth is not too unhealthy. In any case, victory had been out of attain for a number of days, so third or fourth is not a catastrophe.”
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