They were one of the most stable and successful sports’ couples of all time, but all good things come to an end and so has the long partnership between Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. The legendary duo, holders of the World Rally Championship record with nine titles, have decided to go separate ways, or more accurately, the French driver has divorced his Monegasque co-driver. 

Their traumatic and controversial separation started brewing during their last adventure together at the 2021 edition of the Dakar Rally, when Elena struggled to adapt to the new electronic road-book. His deficient performance during the Raid, which ended up with the pair getting lost in the desert, seems to be the key to this controversial dismissal. 

Prodrive, the firm behind their new Dakar project, has also played a pivotal part in the layoff of the veteran navigator. The British group, which are partners of the Bahrain Extreme Raid team, is said to have strongly suggested to Loeb the need to find a replacement for Elena as soon as possible.

Loeb, a difficult phone call 

Prodrive didn’t even want Elena to take part in the 2021 preparation tests for the development of the BRX Hunter T1 which they will be taking to Dakar in 2022. It is not surprising for Loeb to have crumbled under the pressure and decide to make that painful phone call to his faithful squire. 

“It was not an easy decision to make, or the easiest phone call to make, after these 23 years Daniel is a friend. I had a lot of external opinions on Daniel, I discussed it with Prodrive and after analysing our performance in the Dakar (2020) we came to the conclusion that it would be good to try something else”.

“I am 47 years old; I don’t have many years left when I could win the Dakar; therefore, I want to maximise my chances. Only the future will tell if this was the right direction to take but that doesn’t change my relationship with Daniel, with whom I have shared so many things”. 

Elena, monumental anger

Despite it all, Elena was taken by surprise by the news of his dismissal, as he stated in the French newspaper L’Equipe:  

“Sébastien called me a little before noon to tell me that he was going to continue his racing career with another co-driver. He told me that it was a request from Prodrive, who considered that I had not implicated myself enough and had committed too many navigation errors during the last Dakar”. 

 “Fair enough I got us lost during the first stage as I was working out the new digital road-book which replaced the traditional paper one, but I don’t think I made more navigation mistakes than the other co-pilots”.

“We still achieved two podiums together in that race and we are perhaps the ones who won the most stages during the five Dakar Rallies in which we have taken part together. They did not provide me with the means I needed to work and they did not take into account any of my requests or my advice. I am disappointed and I don’t understand it.” – He concluded in his statement for the French sports newspaper-. 

Elena vs Prodrive: A Micky Mouse car

Following that statement, Elena had some very harsh words to say in a video posted on his Instagram account: 

“During the first year I didn’t know how to navigate, during the second I still didn’t know, on the third year Loeb broke my tailbone and therefore I could not carry on and in 2019 we decided to go as a private entry and still won four stages and finished on the podium… but still – Elena is so bad, he cannot navigate – It’s always Elena who wastes Loeb’s time”. 

The Monegasque co-pilot then addressed his message to David Richards, head of Prodrive: 

“Now you are going to listen to me. You have made a Micky Mouse car. That car is not a winning car. You are an unstructured team; you didn’t want to listen to me. I spent hours with our engineer. I’m very sorry because you’re a good person, but we spent hours and hours telling you what to do and what not to do but you didn’t listen to our advice. Okay, it’s your philosophy… 

-Prodrive, the best team in the world!-. Well, well, your last title was the WRC in 2003 with Solberg, since then…Loeb and Elena”. 

Images of Sébastien Loeb: Bahrain Xtreme Raid.