Sebastien Loeb will not restart tomorrow's second leg of the Rally of Portugal after the rollcage on his Citroen DS3 WRC was damaged when he rolled on SS3 on Thursday night.
Citroen team principal Yves Matton confirmed Loeb's early bath and explained the unusual circumstances of the eight-time World Rally Champion's exit.
"They went off in a situation when the road turned on the top [of a crest], the road turned to the right and Sebastien turned to the left," said Matton. "The pace note was good, but he didn't follow the indication, just before the top the road was going a little bit to the left and we think he was looking more to the road and he didn't follow the note."
Matton added that the accident was not high speed, but the car rolled off the road.
"Sebastien said the impact was not heavy," he said. "We don't know how many times the car rolled, but enough to make sure it won't start tomorrow."
The cage in the DS3 is damaged on the roof rather than in the pillars.
"The rollcage is bent," said Matton. "This can happen, it's a rally. We still have one car and we'll try to take maximum points with Mikko [Hirvonon] and try to be leading at the end of the rally."