Dakar | Car, Stage 4: Loeb wins and defeats Al Rajhi

The first Prodrive victory also came at the fourth stage of the 2024 Dakar, the one that took you from Al Salamiya to Al-Hofuf in 299 timed kilometers and 332 transfers.

Up until kilometer 263 everything seemed set for the first success of the year for Nasser Al-Attiyah, who would also have been the first at the wheel of the British manufacturer's Hunter, but in the last 30 kilometers the Qatari was first overtaken by Yazeed Al Rajhi, then by teammate Sébastien Loeb.

And it was the Alsatian who snatched the stage victory from him, because the 9-time world champion not only overtook his teammate, but also the leader of the general car classification, preceding him by just over 1 minute.

Loeb made the difference in the sandy stretch and then characterized by the dunes, which is the last one. A surprise, as both Al-Attiyah and Al Rajhi have much more experience and speed on those types of courses. This gave Prodrive the long-awaited stage victory after the first 4 had ended up in the hands of Audi Sport and Toyota (shared between Overdrive Racing and Gazoo Racing).

The stage classification, however, tells of a sprint finish, because the first 3 are enclosed in just 1'22″. Carlos Sainz does not give up the top positions, once again the first Audi Sport driver to reach the finish line. The Spaniard remained in contention for the podium and for the stage victory up to 60 kilometers from the finish line, when he progressively lost time, finishing almost 5 minutes behind Loeb.

Another excellent stage for Guillaume De Mevius with the private Toyota GR Hilux of the Overdrive Racing team. The Belgian was also the best placed Toyota driver in the standings, considering the difficulties encountered by Lucas Moraes and, above all, by Seth Quintero. The 21-year-old American was stuck on the special stage due to a mechanical problem, which forced him to wait for assistance before resuming the stage and finishing it. This hiccup ended his high ranking hopes in his first year as a Toyota driver.

Stéphane Peterhansel managed to complete the stage in sixth place in the second Audi RS Q e-tron. 6 minutes behind Loeb, which still keeps him at the top of the general classification. Splendid seventh place for Mathieu Serradori with the usual official Century CR7-T ahead of the first MINI John Cooper Works DKR of the X-Raid team driven by Vaidotas Zala.

Good ninth place for Simon Vitse, making his first appearance in the Top 10 in this Dakar ahead of the Ford Raptor managed by the Orlen Jipocar ​​team and driven by former WRC driver Martin Prokop. Mattias Ekstroem loses ground due to 11th place today ahead of Lucas Moraes. Giniel De Villiers also did poorly, 15th.

As regards the general classification, Yazeed Al Rajhi confirms his leadership with the Toyota GR Hilux T1U managed by the private team Overdrive Racing. Behind him, 4'19″ behind is Carlos Sainz with the first Audi RS Q e-tron. Nasser Al-Attiyah, thanks to the third place in the stage today, rose to fourth position, overtaking Mattias Ekstroem (Audi Sport ) The Qatari's delay from the Saudi prince is more than 11 minutes.

Lucas Moraes completes the Top 5 ahead of Sébastien Loeb, who moved up to sixth position albeit with a gap from the leaders of almost 25 minutes. Mathieu Serradori is seventh with the first official Century ahead of the third Audi, that of Stéphane Peterhansel. The multiple Dakar winner is almost 27 minutes behind Al Rajhi, but he also received a four-minute penalty. Closing out the Top 10 are Vaidotas Zala with the MINI X-Raid and Guillaume De Mevius with the Toyota of the Overdrive team.

Dakar 2024 – Stage 4 Cars – General classification