Sebastien Loeb passes the toughest Dakar Rally test and keeps second
Sebastien Loeb passed another tough main test at the Dakar Rally with Bahrain Red Extreme, while teammates Nani Roma and Orlando Terranova maintained their momentum in Tuesday's third stage.
After scoring his first stage win 24 hours ago, Loeb and teammate Fabian Lorkin lost a lot of time to problems with the propulsion system in Team Bahrain's Red Extreme Prodrive Hunter during most of the 255 km stage.
Despite this, the nine-time World Rally Champion retained second place in the general standings behind Nasser Al-Attiyah, who leads by 37 minutes 40 seconds, with nine stages remaining.
Loeb had to go through 250 km with front-wheel drive only, but his skill and experience saw the Frenchman maintain his position as Al-Attiyah's closest competitor.
His teammate, Nani Roma, set the fourth fastest time in the stage, which included tracks and sand dunes around Qaisumah, to climb to 11th place in the general classification.
After some changes to the Prodrive Hunter car after the previous stage, Orlando Terranova and co-driver Dani Oliveiras kept their rhythm to score in the top ten again and retained their tenth place overall.
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