Loeb disappointed: Reactions after withdrawal

Sébastien Loeb retired earlier in unprecedented circumstances while he was in first place in the Jordan Rally. The Frenchman was involved in a head-on collision with another Citroën C4 WRC driven by Conrad Rautenbach on a road section near ES11 during a liaison to the service park.

No one was injured in this accident, despite significant damage, which occurred on a narrow section, in a blind curve, as Rautenbach was heading towards the stage that Loeb was leaving.

Sébastien Loeb: « As we had just finished ES11 and were heading to the next one, we had an accident with a competitor who was on his way to the start of ES11. The road was very narrow. There wasn’t enough room for two cars. It’s an unfortunate incident that interrupts our race for today. The team will see if it’s possible to repair and if it’s worthwhile to restart in SupeRally tomorrow. I’m obviously disappointed for the team, as we had a very good start to the stage, we were leading the rally, the C4 was running very well… For the ‘Drivers’ Championship’ it’s also a hard blow… but we are only at the 5th round of the season. Many things are still going to happen. »

Dani Sordo: We knew that starting first would be a handicap. I was not surprised to suffer from sweeping. I had no point of reference, no benchmark, and in some sections, I felt like we were clearing the road a lot for the competitors behind. However, I am happy with our morning after which we managed to maintain a slim gap. It was far from certain. We will now compete on the same stages which will be clean this time. I will try to keep a good pace to maintain our position and attempt to increase our lead.