(Reuters) -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.

Sebastien Loeb was forced to withdraw from the Dakar Rally after a crash on Tuesday, denying the Frenchman his dream of a first title in the event.

2025 Dakar Stage 3 saw another leading player roll his race machine. You can read about and watch Sebastien Loeb’s accident at this link. The FIA deemed that the Frenchman’s Dacia Sandrider sustained too much damage to continue. As a result, Loeb was forced to retire ahead of 2025 Dakar Stage 4.

Stage 4 of the 2025 Dakar Rally sees KTM win another stage while Dacia's Loeb was asked to retire after an unfit car.

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.

After Sainz, Loeb also takes a big hit to his car in what is proving to be one of the toughest Dakar events in recent history

Carlos Sainz's defence of his Dakar Rally title ended prematurely on Monday when the Spaniard was forced to pull out after the marathon 48-hour stage won by Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuska."It's the end of the adventure for four-time Dakar winner and defending champion Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz.