However, his team Dacia appealed against the decision overnight, meaning he could be back in action later in the week after skipping the test between Al Henakiyah and Al’Ula. It

Dacia has given up hope on nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb returning to the Dakar Rally following his forced exit from the event. The FIA had not authorised Loeb to start the fourth test of 2025 on Wednesday after the roll cage of his Dacia Sandrider was found to have been damaged in a barrel roll in stage three on Tuesday.

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.

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.