Loeb was leading the asphalt event in his Citroen DS3 WRC when the fault occurred approximately 26 kilometres into the 36-kilometre Pays d’Ormont test.
He told WRC Television: “We broke the engine. We had an alarm, oil pressure, in the road. So we called on the radio to ask what we could do. We cut the boost, then the engine felt like it had no power, then it started to make some noise. If it’s a failure there will be no SupeRally.”
Asked if the engine had definitely failed, Loeb said: “That’s what we think at the moment. I don’t know exactly what the damage on the engine [is] but for sure I cannot continue because I will break it completely. So we just can hope that it’s not completely broken and that it’s just something like a sensor or we lost the oil. We just can hope it’s nothing bad but I don’t believe so much that we will start again tomorrow.”
Loeb started the event with a 15-point lead over Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen. If he doesn’t restart and team-mate Sebastien Ogier maintains his overall lead and wins the rally-closing Power Stage, then Loeb’s advantage at the top of the standings could be slashed to one point with two rounds remaining.
The last time Loeb failed to finish a round of the WRC was in June 2009 when he crashed out of the Acropolis Rally. He hasn’t lost a world title battle since 2003.
WRC.com