Nasser Al Attiyah competes during Stage 12 of the Dakar 2023. AFP
Shaybah: Sebastien Loeb streaked to victory in the 12th stage of the Dakar Rally yesterday, the French BRX driver’s fifth stage win in a row and his sixth of this edition.
The victory saw the nine-time former World Rally champion move into second in the overall standings behind leader and defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah.
Loeb, whose five consecutive stage wins equalled the record set by Ari Vatanen in 1989, finished 3min 19sec ahead of Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom, in the last of the three Audi hybrids left in the race.
“It was a perfect day: no mistakes, no stalling, no about turns,” said Loeb, adding that his goals had been changed by the forced absences of podium hopes Carlos Sainz, Stephane Peterhansel and Yazeed Al Rahji.
Qatar’s Al Attiyah (Toyota) retained the overall lead, finishing third in the stage, 3:31 adrift of Loeb, but 1hr 27 min ahead of the Frenchman in the general standings.
“It’s good to finish the marathon stage and bring the car back in good condition,” said Al Attiyah, who also previously won the Dakar in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
“If we finish in the top five each day, that’s okay for me, we have a big enough lead. I’m happy with our day and I hope we can continue like this.”
Chile’s Jose Ignacio Cornejo, on a Honda, won the motorbike section, finishing 49sec ahead of Daniel Sanders (GasGas), with another Australian, two-time winner Toby Price (KTM), in third (1:58).
The result was enough for Price to leapfrog American Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) into first place in the overall standings, 0.28sec ahead, with Kevin Benavides at 2:40.
There remain just two stages of the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally, which kicked off on December 31 and ends in the eastern city of Dammam tomorrow.
“I was just trying to keep a good smooth consistent pace and now it’s just two days to go, so there’s not long,” said Price.
Stage 12 (Top 3)
1 Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) 1h56m21s
2 Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist (Team Audi Sport) +3m19s
3 Nasser Al Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (Toyota Gazoo Racing) +3m31s
Overall Standings (Top 3)
1 Al Attiyah/Baumel (Toyota Gazoo Racing) 41h16m25s
2 Loeb/Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) +1h27m10s
3 Moraes/Gottschalk (Overdrive Racing) +1h29m11s
