Pumped-up Loeb bounces back to erase puncture nightmare
FRENCH driver Sebastien Loeb bounced back the day after a series of punctures to grab his first win in the car category of this year’s Dakar Rally, edging Saudi race leader Yazeed Al-Rajhi in yesterday’s fourth stage.
The Prodrive competitor – a former nine-time world rally champion – finished 1:08 minutes ahead of Toyota’s Al-Rajhi after 631km of rolling terrain without major difficulty, including a 299km special stage between Al-Salamiya and Al-Hofuf in Saudi Arabia.
Loeb had suffered three punctures on Monday, but his first success in this year’s race moves him up to sixth overall, 23:50 behind Al-Rahji.
“It was important to get back into it, especially since we are going to arrive at big stages. We should not be left behind,” said Loeb.
“The three Audis are performing – Nasser (Al-Attiyah) and Yazeed (Al-Rajhi) too, that’s a crowd. For the moment no one is taking a break.”
Loeb clawed back 1:22 on Qatari rival Al-Attiyah (Prodrive), third in the stage at 5:08 behind Loeb and overall at 11:03 off the pace.
Spain’s Carlos Sainz’s fourth-place finish leaves him second overall just over four minutes adrift with his Audi teammate Stephane Peterhansel crossing in sixth place.
South Africa’s best-placed driver in the overall standings is Giniel de Villiers of Toyota Gazoo Racing, who finds himself nearly an hour behind Al-Rajhi in 11th.
The former champion finished the stage in 20th. In the motorbike category, Chilean Ignacio Cornejo surged to the overall race lead after his second stage victory this year. The Honda rider finished the stage nearly three minutes ahead of US teammate Ricky Brabrec, followed closely by Argentinian defending champion Kevin Benavides (KTM) at +3:18.
In the lead since the first stage, Botswana’s Ross Branch (Hero) crossed in fourth, at +4:26, and fell to second place overall, 1:15 behind the Chilean.
Today’s tricky fifth stage crosses the vast ‘Empty Quarter’ desert, with a 645km stage including a 118km special stage between Al-Hofuf and Shubaytah.