Sebastien Loeb wins the second, fast part of the marathon stage – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk extend their overall lead to four minutes
After many punctures, Sebastien Loeb’s day finally went mostly smoothly. From a rear starting position, the Prodrive driver won the fourth stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. The Toyota duo of Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk took second place. The local hero and his German co-driver thus extended their lead over Audi driver Carlos Sainz to four minutes
It was the second part of the marathon stage. The mechanics had only been allowed to work on the cars for two hours the previous evening. From Al-Salamiya to Hofuf, the route continued in an easterly direction for 631 kilometers. The special stage covered 299 kilometers.
The route and the terrain were somewhat easier than the day before. In general, the route was a little faster, but rally director David Castera had again chosen some difficult puzzles for the navigation. That was the main focus.
Toyota driver Lucas Moraes opened the day after his first stage win. But it was Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) who attacked from fourth on the grid. After 82 kilometers, he led the intermediate classification ahead of his team colleague Loeb.
Sainz and Al-Rajhi were also among the front runners with good times. Al-Rajhi, who started third, even took the lead of the field on the route. Seth Quintero was unlucky. His Toyota was stranded at kilometer 68. More than 45 minutes were lost during the repair attempt.
Even after 156 kilometers, the intermediate standings showed a Prodrive one-two lead. But when the first cars reached the finish line, Al-Raihi was ahead and had Al-Attiyah at bay by the small matter of 14 seconds
But there was a wait for Loeb, who had started the day in 23rd place after suffering three punctures yesterday. This time, everything went to plan for the record-breaking world rally champion. With a one-minute lead, Loeb secured his first stage win of the year.
“It was a very good day for us,” nods Loeb. “We drove a clean stage. Of course, we were a bit in the dust because we started far back and had to overtake a lot of cars.”
“At one point we missed a waypoint and had to drop back about thirty seconds, but apart from that we put in a very good stage, so no problems.” It was Loeb’s 24th Dakar stage win.
Al Rajhi/Gottschalk continued their strong run and defended their lead in the overall standings with second place. Al-Attiyah ultimately took third place on the day. Sainz followed in fourth place. Stephane Peterhansel (Audi) finished sixth behind Guillaume de Mevius (Toyota)
With this result, Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk increased their lead over Sainz in the overall standings to over four minutes. “All in all, a fast stage, but tricky to navigate in many places,” says co-driver Gottschalk.
Once again, they were able to stay out of major problems. “Good dunes to drive towards the end with lots and lots of fans – we’re happy with the result!” Behind Al-Rajhi and Sainz, defending champion Al-Attiyah is third, eleven minutes behind.
The stage continues to Shubaytah on Wednesday. There is a 526-kilometer liaison route to tackle. The special is relatively short at 118 kilometers. However, it goes into the “Empty Quarter” in the large sandy desert. There are dunes as far as the eye can see
Result of the 4th stage (Top 10):
01st Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) – 2:36:02 hours
02nd Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Overdrive Toyota Hilux) +1:08 minutes
03 Al-Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) +1:22
04 Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron) +4:58
05. de Mevius/Panseri (Overdrive Toyota Hilux) +5:21
06th Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron) +5:59
07th Serradori/Minaudier (CR6-T) +6:56
08th Zala/Fiuza (X-raid Mini JCW Plus) +7:38
09th Vitse/Lefebvre (MD-Rally Optimus) +7:52
10th Prokop/Chytka (MP-Sports Ford Raptor) +8:05
Overall standings after 4 of 12 stages (Top 10):
01st Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Overdrive-Toyota Hilux) – 15:44:39 hours
02. Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron) +4:19 minutes
03 Al-Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) +11:03
04th Moraes/Monleon (Toyota Hilux) +19:31
05. Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi RS Q e-tron) +19:42
06th Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) +23:50
07th Serradori/Minaudier (CR6-T) +24:20
08. Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron) +26:56
09th Zala/Fiuza (X-raid Mini JCW Plus) +32:42
10. de Mevius/Panseri (Overdrive-Toyota Hilux) +38:43
