Riyadh, January 11 (BNA): Sebastien Loeb completed an impressive hat-trick of stage victories in the Bahrain Red Extreme Championship today as he entered the Dakar Rally, the Empty Quarter, in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Loeb and Fabian Lorquin took their BRX Prodrive Hunter to a third consecutive victory in the 114km 10th stage from Haradh to Shaybah, 3min 4sec ahead of the Audis of Matthias Ekström and Emil Bergqvist.
Loeb’s success on stage 20 of the Dakar was his fourth so far at this year’s event and fifth for a BRX, coming just 24 hours after an impressive 1-2-3 finish by Prodrive Hunters.
The result cemented his hold on third place overall, with Nasser Al-Attiyah recording the fourth fastest time of the day to finish with a lap of 1 hour, 21 minutes and 34 seconds in his Toyota over Brazil’s Lucas Moraes.
With a lap less than 16 minutes behind Morais’ Toyota, Loeb will certainly have his sights set on a second consecutive Dakar finish over the remaining four stages.
While Al-Attiyah is untouchable barring major disaster, nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb is looking to build on the current lead he holds in the 2023 World Rally Championship with more wins and maximum stage points before Saturday’s finale in Dammam.
Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq set the tenth fastest time of the day in Prodrive Hunter, while Vaidota Zala and Paulo Fiuza got frustrated trying to get back-to-back second-place finishes in Hunter III.
After finishing less than a minute behind Loeb with a great ride yesterday, Zala was second more than a third of the way into today’s stage before stopping with mechanical problems, dropping him down the order.
The Dakar organizers kept the stage short, as it was a precursor to the two-day Shaybah Marathon of the Empty Quarter, where there will be a heavy focus on saving cars.
With 274km to come tomorrow followed by 185km on Friday, utility trucks and mechanics are prevented from temporarily crossing in between.
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