Loeb won his fifth consecutive stage but was almost an hour and a half behind Al-Attiyah

The nine-time world rally champion is already second after beating Brazil. Lucas Moraes (Toyota), but that doesn’t worry the leader, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota).

Loeb was featured in this edition, the seventh edition he was discussing. 16 stage wins, already added a record half a dozen more partial wins smashed his best mark in the Bir Dakar, his 5 wins in 2017 and then only served to be second only to what he could be now.

In the twelfth stage, ending Shaybah (Saudi Arabia)pilots completed the two-day marathon in Rub al-Khali with no intermediate assistance.Empty Quarter(empty quadrant), the inhospitable desert of Arabia.

In the second installment, they were 191 contact kilometers and 185 strokesmost of them are near dry lakes as well as dunes and sand.

Loeb got used to win the stages and unlock the track. After four victories in a row, the Frenchman sought a fifth and to that end, he authoritatively ruled the first set.

Inside 42 first kilometers, The Alsatian timed Al-Attiyah 55 seconds, Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom, the only Audi survivor at Dakar 2023, one minute, and Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit (Prodrive) close to two.

The racing pace of the world rally champion is way above the rest in this second week of the Dakar after he squandered his chance to win. touareg in the first days of the raid.

stop by kilometers 87, It was 1:46 ahead of Al-Attiyah and 1:55 behind Ekstrom. Brazil’s Lucas Moraes was already losing 5:26 at that point in the timed session and his overall runner-up was starting to fall.

Loeb stubbornly got ahead of Al-Attiyah on Ekstrom timelines. 128 kilometers, albeit for just nine seconds. Prodrive dominated the special with 2:25 over Nordic, with Moraes on stage at 6:49. At that time, overall, the gap was already less than three minutes in favor of the South American.

The Frenchman didn’t take his foot off the accelerator and Al-Attiyah took control. At the last interim check, exstrome Passed at 2:42 and the general’s leader at 3:03. Morea 7:47 a.m. The Brazilian advantage is about to run out.

Loeb completed another stage by opening the track from start to finish. closed at 1h56:21, 3:19 against Ekstrom (one more half minute in the final stage), 3:31 against Al-Attiyah and 11:38 against the second-placed Brazilian.

With two stages left, the Qatari has his fifth Dakar in his pocket. via 1h27:10 Loeb and 1h29:11 with respect to Moraes.

Price, leader in motorcycle

Chile nacho cornejo (Honda) opened the Dakar 2023 winning record by scoring the twelfth stage, which ended in Shaybah (Saudi Arabia), which lifted the Australian to the lead. Toby Price (KTM), despite only renting 28 seconds compared to America Skyler Howes (Husqvarna).

Cornejo succeeded sixth partial victory His entire sports career in Dakar is in his last four appearances in the raid.

The cyclists finished the marathon, which consists of two stages, with the first place. rub al-khaliThe ‘Empty Quarter’ (empty quadrant) is an inhospitable Arabian desert where in the second installment they had 191 contact kilometers and 185 timings, mostly from dry lakes.

Argentina’s Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) opened the circuit after his third stage victory in this Dakar, the first day of the ‘Empty Quarter’, and after that the Australians daniel sanders (GasGas) and Price.

He separated Price from Howes by just 28 seconds in the general classification, which started right after him on stage. The Australian, who will add bonuses for entering the top three on the track, determined the best time to be 42 kilometers, where he passed with a difference of 6 seconds. Kevin Benavides Compared to (KTM) and Cornejo, he was down by 17 seconds and Howes by 48 seconds. And that’s without counting the stage-opening compensation.

Price’s lead on Benavides increased to 17 seconds (and 39 more bonuses). kilometers 87It’s almost half a minute away with the Cornejo.

The Chilean took the lead on the timeline. 128 kilometers It’s special, with the 19-second margin older than Benavides and Price’s 31-second margin, who has accumulated 59 seconds of compensation. Howes, who had passed 1:16 behind the Australian in the previous break, was closing the gap.

The guy from Honda consolidated his lead in real time at the final break. 156 kilometers. Kevin Benavides had 38 seconds and Price, who had a 1:12 bonus, had 1:25 seconds. The victory was between them and Sanders, who placed eleventh 2:39 behind the leader in real time, but had 3:19 as the prize for opening the course.

The Chilean did not slow down or miss the opportunity and for a while confirmed his victory at the finish line. 1h57:27 that no one can beat, even with bonuses. Sanders finished 49 seconds behind and Price gave up 1:58. Howes finished sixth in 2:54, Spaniard Tosha Schareina (GasGas) entered the Top 10 at 3:59 and Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) fell at 5:48.

Overall, with two stages left, Price outstripped Howes, whom he now leads. 28 seconds, and Kevin Benavides, who is fifth today, is behind 2:40. In the fight for the top ten, Santolino is in 1:02:22 and Schareina is in 1:47:33.