Riyadh, January 14 (BNA): Sebastien Loeb led Bahrain Red Extreme to a new Dakar Rally record today when he claimed his sixth consecutive victory in Saudi Arabia.
With another stunning performance in the BRX Prodrive Hunter, Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin surpassed the previous best streak of five consecutive Dakar victories set by Ari Vatanen during the original Paris-Dakar African Championship in 1989.
The nine-time World Rally Champion was once again in irresistible form among the dunes of the Empty Quarter as he convincingly won the penultimate 154km stage of the rally from Shaybah to Al Hofuf by 5min 28sec over overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Loeb’s dominance over the past six days, which underscores the BRX Prodrive Hunter’s strength and all-around capabilities in hostile desert conditions, has him within reach of a second consecutive Dakar in Dammam tomorrow.
It might have been better had it not been for a string of other punctures and setbacks last week, with Al-Attiyah, who was awarded a one-minute penalty today, now leading by 1hr 21min 42sec in his Toyota and on the brink of his fifth Dakar win. .
Loeb’s success in stage seven overall at this year’s event, the eighth for Prodrive hunters after Guerlain Chicheret’s win earlier, gave him a 14m 8s advantage over Brazil’s Lucas Morais’ Toyota in third.
It was also another great support for the BRX’s drive towards alternative motorsport solutions. The cars tackled the world’s toughest sports car racing on Prodrive EcoPower biofuel, which produces 80% less CO2 than petrol, setting the direction for other teams to follow.
Shechrit and Alex Winock each set the eighth fastest time of the day in their Prodrive hunter, and the provisional 11th place overall, given a series of previous misfortunes, contrasts with the quality shown by the winners of the Rallye du Maroc three months earlier.
Vaidotas Zala and Paulo Fiuza, who were fans of stage two in a series of consecutive top-ten finishes, had to retire their Prodrive Hunter last night after gearbox problems prevented them from bivouacing.
Nothing comes easy in the Dakar. Today’s station included a road section of 521 km, while the final sweep of Dammam tomorrow is 281 km by road, in addition to the last timed section of 136 km.
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