Andalucia Rally: Sebastien Loeb forced to play the waiting game as weather plays spoilsport

The
335kms
second
special
stage
was
cancelled
because
low-level
clouds
at
the
rally
base
in
Dos
Hermanas
prevented
the
event’s
helicopters
from
taking
off,
and
made
it
impossible
to
guarantee
competitor
safety.

After
losing
time
owing
to
power
steering
and
navigational
issues
24
hours
earlier,
Loeb
and
co-driver
Fabian
Lurquin
in
their
BRX
Prodrive
Hunter
had
been
relishing
the
chance
to
revive
their
title
bid
on
a
route
sweeping
into
the
Sierra
del
Torcal
mountain
range.

Andalucia
Rally:
Sebastien
Loeb
fights
back
after
a
tough
day
in
Spain;
Stage
win
for
Nasser
Al
Attiyah

They
will
now
re-start
the
event
tomorrow
holding
third
place,
10min,
20sec
behind
the
rally
and
championship
leader,
Nasser
Al
Attiyah
in
a
Toyota
Hilux.

Saudi
Arabia’s
Yazeed
Al
Rajhi
holds
second
place
in
another
Toyota,
with
Guerlain
Chicherit,
winner
of
the
penultimate
round
in
Morocco
earlier
this
month,
lying
fourth
in
his
Prodrive
Hunter.

The
second
of
four
long
stages
was
due
to
present
a
different
test
for
drivers,
sending
them
over
a
mix
of
broken,
narrow
tracks
in
the
hills
north
of
Malaga
close
to
the
El
Torcal
de
Antequera
nature
reserve.

The
start
was
initially
delayed
for
two
hours
before
eventually
being
cancelled,
leaving
two
stages
remaining
before
the
finish
on
Sunday.

“It’s
always
frustrating
when
you
go
to
the
start
of
the
stage
and
then
you
have
go
back
to
service,”
said
nine-time
World
Rally
Championship
winner
Loeb.

“But
the
weather
conditions
were
really
tricky,
the
helicopters
couldn’t
reach
the
stage
so
we
could
have
no
safety.

“The
organisation
could
not
risk
starting
the
stage
and
cancelling
it
was
the
only
thing
to
do.”

The
final
stage,
which
takes
the
rally
in
the
Andalusian
province
of
Huelva,
is
expected
to
be
the
toughest
of
the
rally
and
could
decide
the
outcome
of
the
event,
and
the
championship.

Loeb
remains
determined
to
make
amends
for
the
time
he
lost
due
to
power
steering
problems,
and
technical
issues
related
to
the
competitor’s
digital
road
books
which
made
navigation
difficult.