Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, it's over.
In any case, the Alsatian driver and his loyal Monegasque co-driver will not take the start of the Dakar together in 2022. "It is not without a heartache that we will not take the start in 2022 as teammates" , Loeb slips.
And the nine-time world rally champion added: "After five Dakar spent together and after discussions with the team, we have come to the conclusion that it might be good to try something else."
After 5 @dakar together and after discussions with the team, we came to the conclusion that maybe it would be good to try something else.
It is not without a heartache that we will not take the start in 2022 as teammates.
(2/2) @ DanosElenapic.twitter.com / PuCcNv8cIA
- Sébastien Loeb (@SebastienLoeb) March 16, 2021
The team in question is the British team Prodrive.
It was the first time that the tandem, united for 23 years, would run under its colors in the Dakar.
And it ended… in sausage water, with an abandonment during the eighth stage.
And this after a series of struggles.
“Rallye du Val d'Agout 1998, our first scratch victory.
The beginning of our success in rallying, but above all the beginning of an unwavering friendship, ”recalls Sébastien Loeb, 47 years old.
An emotion shared by his lifelong sidekick.
The two men nevertheless reigned together in the world rally from 2004 to 2012 with Citroën, also helping to offer Hyundai its first two manufacturer titles in 2019 and 2020.
Anger and incomprehension
Although, more than the emotion of leaving Loeb, it is above all her anger and her incomprehension that Elena, 48, highlights in a video posted on her
page
.
“It was crap,” he says very simply about the RBX / Prodrive experience at Dakar 2021.
“I received a phone call from Seb today, at 11:45 am, to tell me that he would not be leaving with me on the Dakar or whatever because the Prodrive team decided that I was not doing the business, that I was not sufficiently motivated, that I did not have enough experience and made too many navigation errors this year ”, he explains then, visibly annoyed, before giving the story of the four first participations of the terrible duo in the Dakar, with two withdrawals (2016, 2018) but also two podiums (2nd in 2017 and 3rd in 2019).
"I'm sorry, but before you say that Elena wastes Loeb time, know that your car is not made to win"
Daniel Elena
"He's bad Elena, he can't navigate, he's wasting Loeb's time," he quipped.
And to add, speaking directly to his ex-British employer: “I'm sorry, but before saying that Elena wastes Loeb time, know that your car is not made to win.
You are an unstructured team.
You didn't listen to me.
We spent hours, with my engineer, telling you what to do and what not to do to try to win a Dakar and make a car strong.
You didn't listen to the advice and did what you want.
It's normal, it's your philosophy, thinking that you are the best team in the world and that you have won everything.
The last thing you won in the WRC was in 2003 with (Petter) Solberg.
Since then, Loeb-Elena has arrived… ”Squeaking.
23 years of collaboration and friendship
Daniel Elena concludes his remarks by telling the makers of Prodrive that they “did not understand anything” about the role of co-pilot and by explaining that they managed to “make doubt” the duo and to “separate” the two men .
Although, we obviously do not erase 23 years of collaboration and such a long friendship: “Seb, I have nothing against you, I will always be behind you and we will always be friends.
I wish you good luck with your new co-pilot. ”
Charge to Prodrive and Sébastien Loeb to make Daniel Elena lie in 2022, on the next Dakar ...
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