One stage, two 'victories'
The two-way fight continues without interruption Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loebnow the only real contenders to win the Dakar Rally 2024. The Frenchman, looking for his first success in the toughest competition in the world, won the ninth stage of the program, but with little satisfaction. Behind him, in fact, the Spaniard finished his internship at 4 minutes late by the Prodrive driver, thus maintaining his overall lead of 20 minutes by his direct pursuer. A result that allows the 61-year-old to maintain his leadership.
The 'Four Circles' strategy
The will of theAudi to get his hands on the last Dakar before dedicating himself completely to the Formula 1 project is a lot, and you can also see it from the strategy implemented by the German company to help the Spanish driver achieve his fourth victory in this competition. In the 417 km from Hail to Alulain one of the stages considered among the most complex in terms of navigation, Mattias Ekström he led the way for his Madrid teammate, having lost any chance of victory. An important role, therefore, as is the one it plays Peterhansel, behind Sainz and ready to intervene in the event of an accident by the latter. A double function that it does not possess Prodrivewhich once again had to deal with the retreat of Nasser Al Attiyah. All this allowed Sainz not to waste excessive time on Loeb, in turn with the sole objective of giving his all in order to recover more ground on his rival by Friday, the day on which the checkered flag will be shown on the 46th edition of the Dakar. Between the Frenchman from Prodrive and the Iberian from Audi, at least in the first half of the journey, there was also the presence of Toyota Moraeswho however lost pace in the decisive section for the stage classification, finishing 8th but maintaining the third position in the general ranking, albeit a over an hour late from the nine-time WRC champion. However, the latter achieved the ninth stage victory of his career, even if the gap from the Madrilenian remains 20 minutes.
Dakar 2024, Car ranking – Stage 9 (Top-10)
| POS | PILOT | CAR | TIME / GAP |
| 1 | Loeb–Lurquin | Prodrive | 4:17.33 |
| 2 | Sainz–Cruz | Audi | +4.14 |
| 3 | Serradori – Minaudier | Century | +4.43 |
| 4 | De Mevius – Panseri | Toyota | +9.52 |
| 5 | Botterill–Cummings | Toyota | +10.01 |
| 6 | Krotov – Zhiltsov | Toyota | +10.21 |
| 7 | Peterhansel–Boulanger | Audi | +10.34 |
| 8 | Moraes – Monleon | Toyota | +11.03 |
| 9 | Ekström – Bergqvist | Audi | +14.08 |
| 10 | Dumas – Dolphin | Toyota | +14.18 |
Dakar 2024, General car ranking after stage 9 (Top-10)
| POS | PILOT | CAR | TIME / GAP |
| 1 | Sainz–Cruz | Audi | 37:50.57 |
| 2 | Loeb–Lurquin | Prodrive | +20.33 |
| 3 | Moraes – Monleon | Toyota | +1:12.02 |
| 4 | De Mevius – Panseri | Toyota | +1:39.56 |
| 5 | De Villiers–Murphy | Toyota | +2:00.12 |
| 6 | Serradori – Minaudier | Century | +2:03.44 |
| 7 | Chicherit – Winocq | Toyota | +2:12.43 |
| 8 | Prokop – Chytka | Ford | +2:12.48 |
| 9 | Botterill–Cummings | Toyota | +2:29.51 |
| 10 | Vanagas – Sikk | Toyota | +2:59.35 |
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