Dakar | Loeb “gulps” Sainz: “If he doesn't make mistakes or have problems it will be tough”

The fight for the victory of the 2024 Dakar is increasingly heated: Sebastien Loeb is closing in on Carlos Sainz, who has just over twenty minutes of advantage in the toughest race in the world. The Frenchman took his 27th win in a special stage of the legendary event and, once out of the car, spoke to the media, including Motorsport.com, and said he was “happy” with his victory, even though he believes it is difficult to catch up to his rival.

The Frenchman suffered a series of punctures over the course of the 417 timed kilometres, one of the reasons he lost time, although he managed to cross the finish line with the fastest time in the ninth stage of the Saudi event: “I'm happy with the victory, of the stage we have made”.

“We had two punctures halfway through the stage and because of that we lost time, but other than that we had a good day,” said the nine-time WRC champion, who will pay attention to the punctures ahead of the final part of this 2024 Dakar. “They are always important, because especially in the next few days we will arrive in an area with a lot of rocks, so we know that it will be part of the game, but I hope we will be luckier and I will be able to push.”

When asked how he could recover those twenty minutes on Carlos Sainz, the Frenchman said that it is very difficult to do it with speed alone, and that he will need something else: “We need to push, good navigation, and pushing is the only thing we can do. We can't think about what others are doing, we have to do our job. Recovering just in terms of pace will be difficult though.”

“Carlos is fast, and if he doesn't have mechanical problems, navigation problems or a puncture, obviously it will be very complicated,” said Sebastien Loeb, before being exposed to the topic of Nasser Al-Attiyah's retirement. “This is life. Obviously, it would be nice to have another car near me, especially in these next few days, which will be long and hard, with lots of rocks, but I will try to do it alone.”