Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb is out of the Dakar Rally after he rolled his Dacia in the Saudi desert on Tuesday as the race continued to take a toll of the big names after the exit of 2024 winner Carlos Sainz.

2025 Dakar Stage 3 saw another leading player roll his race machine. You can read about and watch Sebastien Loeb’s accident at this link. The FIA deemed that the Frenchman’s Dacia Sandrider sustained too much damage to continue. As a result, Loeb was forced to retire ahead of 2025 Dakar Stage 4.

Loeb, who has finished second three times in the Dakar Rally, ended the stage in 4 hours 20 minutes 12 seconds, more than an hour behind the day's winner, 19-year-old South African Saood Variawa.

Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb rolled his Dacia in the Saudi desert on Tuesday as the Dakar Rally continued to take a toll of the big names after the exit of 2024 winner Carlos Sainz.

Nineteen-year-old Saood Variawa of South Africa became the youngest top-class driver to win a stage in the Dakar Rally.

He was forced to pull out of the race for a third time and follows defending champion Carlos Sainz, who crashed the previous day. Read more at straitstimes.com.