Loeb and Al Attiyah: one stage, two findings | FormulaPassion

Prodrive surpasses Toyota and Audi

First statement for the Prodrive in this edition of the Dakar Rally, with the success achieved by Sébastien Loeb. The Frenchman, nine times champion in the WRC and twice reigning vice-champion in the most famous raid in the world, has in fact obtained the 24th stage victory on the way from 332 km totals that leads from Al Salamiya to Al Hofufmocking Yazeed Al Rajhi at the end after overtaking his teammate Nasser Al Attiyahstruggling with a drop in performance after a stage conducted almost entirely in the lead.

The ranking situation

For Loeb it is about the second podium after the 2nd place obtained in Stage 2, even if the results are not yet sufficient to be present in the top-5 of this first part of Dakar 2024. Not surprisingly, the Frenchman occupies the 6th place in the general classification, 23 minutes behind Al Rajhi's Toyota, which confirms its leadership with today's performance. In the top-3 there is also Al Attiyah, 3rd both today and in the general ranking, albeit 11 minutes late from Al Rajhi.

Just a little problem

Regarding today's stage, Loeb expressed positive comments on his stage, one of the 'shortest' of the entire program this year, not without hiding some difficulties, not at all comparable to those encountered in Stage 1 (when he came 19th) or Stage 3, characterized by continuous punctures: “It was a very good day for us – has explained – we had a clean stage. We were a bit in the dust because we started way back and had to overtake a lot of cars. At a certain point we missed a waypoint and had to go back about thirty secondsbut other than that we completed an excellent stage, so no problems.”

Navigation difficulties

Al Attiyah's stage is more complex, returning from a real feat in Stage 3, finishing in 4th place but finishing on three wheels: “It wasn't easy – he added – we tried to control the speed. Navigation wasn't easy. We didn't want to get punctures or do anything like that, because we had to take the car to the bivouac to prepare everything for tomorrow and the day after. I'm happy to be here. We are getting to know our new car. It's not easy, the stage was very fast and there were many problems, but now I think we can get back to the top step by step.”