Mechanical breakdown, accident, punctures or minimal deviation… Sébastien Loeb, the eternal cursed of the Dakar

The sports commissioners therefore informed him, on Tuesday evening, of his disqualification. Once again, Sébastien Loeb is the victim of complications which prevent him from winning the Dakar. A look back at his eight other unsuccessful attempts.

2016: first participation

For his first Dakar, Sébastien Loeb manages to win a few stages. But after an accident during the 8th stage, his chances of final victory vanished: he fell considerably behind the first in the ranking and was unable to catch up. Finally, Sébastien Loeb finished in 9th place.

2017 : premier podium

For his second participation, Loeb had a series of good results and technical misfortune which caused him to lose time. He finished in second place, only five minutes behind the man nicknamed “Mister Dakar”, namely Stéphane Peterhansel. This is his smallest gap with the winner.

2018 : premier abandon

After several technical problems, the Frenchman’s Peugeot fell into a hole during the 5th stage, causing an injury to the plexus and coccyx of his co-driver Daniel Elena. The latter not being in any condition to start again, Sébastien Loeb therefore throws in the towel from this 5th stage.

2019: can do better

Sébastien Loeb manages to place himself well during the various races but loses a lot of time on the special stages. As the edition only contains 10 races, things are not easy for the Frenchman, who finishes on the podium in 3rd place and believes that he “could have done better”.

2021: heaps of complications

Loeb experiences a succession of technical problems. At the start of the race, he suffered three punctures, which put him far behind the rest of his competitors. The accumulation of these complications finally forced him to abandon the Dakar during the 8th stage.

2022: complicated beginnings

A transmission problem – the breakage of the rear longitudinal shaft – on the third day forced Sébastien Loeb to drive with only two drive wheels for around half an hour. The Frenchman nevertheless finished the Dakar in second place.

2023: chain of punctures

Sébastien Loeb is experiencing a particularly complicated Dakar 2023. He suffered no less than three punctures during the second stage. He once again finished on the podium in second place. A position all the more frustrating as he has had seven stage victories, including six in a row.

2024: a nightmare

Last year, the Frenchman experienced a lot of mechanical incidents and bad luck, including five punctures and a mechanical accident during the penultimate stage, which caused him to finish in 3rd place.