Loeb wins again as Dakar champion Al-Attiyah retains lead

Sebastien Loeb completed a superb hat trick of stage wins for Bahrain Raid Xtreme on Wednesday as the Dakar Rally ventured into the Empty Quarter in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

Loeb and Fabian Lurquin took their BRX Prodrive Hunter to a third successive victory on the 114km tenth stage from Haradh to Shaybah, with a margin of 3 mins 4 secs from the Audi of Mattias Ekstrom and Emil Bergkvist.

Loeb’s 20th Dakar stage success was his fourth so far in this year’s event and the fifth for BRX, coming just 24 hours after an impressive 1-2-3 finish by the Prodrive Hunters.

The result strengthened his grip on third place overall, as Nasser Al Attiyah clocked the fourth fastest time on the day to finish it holding an outright lead of 1 hr 21 mins 34 secs in his Toyota over Brazil’s Lucas Moraes.

With a gap of less than 16 minutes to the Toyota of Moraes, Loeb will certainly have his sights on securing a second successive runner up spot in the Dakar over the four remaining stages.

While Al Attiyah is untouchable barring a major disaster, nine-time World Rally Champion Loeb will be looking to build on the current lead he holds in the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship with more wins and maximum stage points before Saturday’s finish in Dammam.

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