by VALERIO BARRETTA
Dakar 2024, Sainz one step away from poker
Guerlain Chicherit gives an encore and also wins the 11th stage of the Dakar 2024 (from Alula to Yanbu, 420 km special). The Toyota driver, his seventh success ever in the Desert Marathon, completed the course 5'32″ ahead of teammate Guillaume de Mevius and 5'35” on Carlos Sainz.
The Frenchman did well to make up for a four-minute delay halfway through with a great second part of the stage, but without a doubt the one who comes out of Stage 11 with the widest smile is Sainz, almost unreachable in the general classification. The Spaniard in fact managed the advantage and took advantage of the inconveniences suffered by Sebastien Loeb, over whom he now has over 90 minutes of advantage. Loeb's sporting behavior is to be appreciated: stopped at km 132 due to the failure of the right front suspension, the Frenchman waited for Sainz to invite him to raise his foot in order to avoid accidents. For the Prodrive driver, second place in the general classification is now also distant: he is 8 minutes behind de Mevius.
In the last stage (Yanbu-Yanbu, 175 km of special) for Sainz it should be a pure formality: the Spaniard will just have to be careful to bring his Audi to the finish line to celebrate his fourth Dakar. And to think that Nasser Al-Attiyah had predicted that Audi would go home after three days: ironically the reigning champion himself abandoned after yet another problem with his Prodrive.
Dakar 2024, Car ranking – Stage 11 (Top-10)
| POS | PILOT | CAR | TIME / GAP |
| 1 | Chicherit – Winocq | Toyota | 4h43'00” |
| 2 | De Mevius – Panseri | Toyota | +5'32” |
| 3 | Sainz–Cruz | Audi | +5'35” |
| 4 | Ekstrom–Bergkvist | Audi | +9'46” |
| 5 | Variawa – Cazalet | Toyota | +12'37” |
| 6 | Lavieille – Sarreaud | MD | +15'06” |
| 7 | Yacopini – Oliveras Carreras | Toyota | +15'23” |
| 8 | Zala – Fiuza | Mini | +15'38” |
| 9 | Rome – Haro Bravo | Ford | +17'51” |
| 10 | Botterill–Cummings | Toyota | +22'40” |
Dakar 2024, General car ranking after stage 11 (Top-10)
| POS | PILOT | CAR | TIME / GAP |
| 1 | Sainz–Cruz | Audi | 46h23'47” |
| 2 | De Mevius – Panseri | Toyota | +1h27'06” |
| 3 | Loeb–Lurquin | Audi | +1h35'02” |
| 4 | Chicherit – Winocq | Toyota | +1h42'20” |
| 5 | Prokop – Chytka | Ford | +2h17'47” |
| 6 | Botterill–Cummings | Toyota | +2h41'31” |
| 7 | De Villiers–Murphy | Toyota | +2h51'09” |
| 8 | Vanagas – Sikk | Toyota | +3h01'36” |
| 9 | Moraes – Monleon | Toyota | +3h06'42” |
| 10 | Serradori – Minaudier | Century | +3h09'17” |
#Dakar #Sainz #victory #grasp #FormulaPassion
