Sébastien Loeb has retired from the lead of Rally Portugal, terminally damaging his Ford Puma Rally1 after crashing into a wall on the very first corner of Friday afternoon.
Nine-time World Rally champion Loeb had taken the rally lead on the fourth stage, Arganil.
The moment @SebastienLoeb crashed out of the lead on #WRC @rallydeportugal 😭
📹 Luis Ramos pic.twitter.com/5hfeviof22
— DirtFish (@DirtFishRally) May 20, 2022
But on the short asphalt section at the start of Lousã, Loeb slid wide and clattered a wall with the rear-right of his car, forcing him to park up and retire a few corners later.
Loeb had been 0.5s up on Elfyn Evans heading onto the stage and was the only M-Sport driver in the top six before his crash.
