Loeb keeps rolling and Al-Attiyah stays on course

Without Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Audi), who had to retire after being unable to repair his car due to damage in the first kilometers of the ninth special event, Dakar now continued with two clear heroes: Loeb and director Al-Attiyah. comfortable in front of the general.

Between a course of 510 contact kilometers and the shortest special part of the raid, Haradh Y travelIn Saudi Arabia, Alsace this time, yes – it showed up late at the start in the previous stage – opened the track and fulfilled the task with great success.

Already at the first waypoint, at the 29th kilometer, he was ahead with a 28-second advantage over the Lithuanian. Vaidotas Zala (Prodrive) and 1:17 compared to the overall leader.

Brazilian Lucas Moraes Second in the car classification (Toyota), he was just three seconds behind the Qatari and the Swede in the first set at that time. Mattias EkstromThe only Audi survivor at Dakar 2023 finished fifth at 1:25. nine-time world rally champion.

The Alsatian extended the lead at kilometer 60, where he led Moraes 2:28, Ekstrom 3:47 and Al Attiyah 3:02. Zala was stopped by someone 16 kilometers ago. mechanical problem. The stage was starting to look overwhelming for the winner of the previous two.

The French lost time compared to Ekstrom in the next set, but still took the Swede 2:35 ahead as they crossed the final waypoint at kilometer 84, which Lucas Moraes passed in 3:16.

Loeb appeared at the finish line after investing 1h48:32 In the special event, he was more than three minutes ahead of the driver for Audi after Sainz and Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel were out of the race at the Dakar. Moraes finished third at 5:22.

Al-Attiyah gave up at 5:45 compared to Loeb, but with four stages to the end of the Dakar, the Frenchman, who finished third on the timeline, was ahead in 1:37:23, and the Brazilian second from Toyota, 1:21: 34 of them earn an income that allows them to meet the remaining days relatively calmly. marathon related to “The Empty Quarter”.

Branch won on motorcycle

botswana Ross Branch (Hero) ‘The Empty Quarter’ was victorious on the first contact and Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM), who has yet to break the winning record in the current edition of the Dakar, took the lead across motorcycles. to the detriment of the Americans Skyler Howes (Husqvarna).

This is the second stage victory for the Hero driver in the Dakar and the third stage victory for the in-house manufacturer from India. heroin all their participation in the raid.

The tenth stage featured the shortest special stage of Dakar 2023, just 114 kilometers, with another 510 connections between Haradh and Shaybah, an introduction to what awaits the pilots in the two-day marathon in the ‘Empty Quarter’ (empty quarter). ), desert rub al-khali, where they made their first raid.

Argentine Luciano Benavides After (Husqvarna) became the first to repeat a stage victory in the current edition of the Dakar, he opened the track with a timed pass through the sand and took the maximum bonus two minutes ahead for the mission’s unrestrained progress.

Another Husqvarna, South Africa’s Michael Docherty who is competing Rally2second tier on motorcycles set the best time at the first checkpoint at kilometer 29 with a seven-second advantage over the French Adrien van Beveren (Honda) and twelve compared to Kevin (KTM), the oldest of the Benavides.

valenced Tosha Schareina, After adjusting the stop time to help Joan Barreda (Honda), she rolled after the stage-opening trio, who advanced to fourth on Tuesday’s stage, only giving up 1:09 at that ‘waypoint’.

Halfway through the special, at km 60, Van Beveren improved Docherty’s time by eleven seconds and was twenty-one seconds ahead of Kevin Benavides. Less than a minute after Honda was also Botswana Ross Branch (Hero) and Chile. Paul Quintanilla (Sling).

At the final waypoint (84 km.), the Argentine was eleven seconds away from the still leading Frenchman, but only one second on Branch. Docherty finished fourth three seconds from South America

At that time, Dakar 2021 winner Benavides, the eldest, was ahead of Skyler Howes by one second in the overall classification of the category and confirmed his lead at the end of the stage with a score of 6:38, now ahead of Husqvarna, who is ahead 1:29 in the classification. behind. Australian Toby Price According to the Argentine, the one who surrendered at 7:16 (KTM) is in third place at 2:10.

Schareina improved Price and Howes’ time at the finish line, 7:18 behind the winner of the stage, Ross BranchIt cut Docherty’s time by half a minute and by exactly one minute, trailing Van Beveren’s time by 21 seconds. Kevin Benavides new leader