The nine-time World Rally Champion, now 51, has in recent years been competing in rally-raid events. Victory on the legendary Dakar Rally still eludes Loeb, and next year he will chase that goal with a new co-driver.
The Dacia team, which competes in the World Rally-Raid Championship, has confirmed that Loeb and his team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah have swapped navigators. From now on, Frenchman Edouard Boulanger will co-drive for Loeb, while Belgian Fabian Lurquin will sit alongside Al-Attiyah.
Loeb had worked with Lurquin since 2022. Boulanger, meanwhile, began partnering with Al-Attiyah in 2024, having previously been the long-time navigator of multiple Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel.
The co-driver switch is an unusual decision, though not a complete surprise. Al-Attiyah had already tested the partnership with Lurquin in June at Baja Aragón in Spain.
“Our strength as a team lies in creating the best possible conditions for our crews to perform at their highest level. The bond between driver and navigator is crucial, and sometimes evolving the pairings allows new synergies to emerge,” said Dacia Sandriders team principal Tiphanie Isnard.
“We believe these new collaborations will bring greater stability, renewed confidence, and the determination needed to push even further together.”
Loeb will compete with Boulanger for the first time at the Portuguese round of the world championship, which takes place next week. Their partnership will last at least until the opening round of the 2026 season, the Dakar Rally.
“I’m really looking forward to starting this new chapter with Edouard. We’ve already done some testing together in Morocco and everything went very well, so I’m confident our collaboration will be a good one,” Loeb said.
Al-Attiyah leads the World Rally-Raid Championship heading into the final two rounds of the season. Loeb, in contrast, has managed just one strong result this year, a runner-up finish in South Africa.
