Dakar Rally: Sébastien Loeb remains without victory
RALLY DAKAR The 40th Dakar Rally is proving enormously difficult in its first week in Peru. The most prominent victim is Sébastien Loeb, while his Peugeot teammate Stéphane Peterhansel seems headed for his 14th Dakar victory. The organizers of the 40th Dakar Rally 2018 had touted the increased level of difficulty in advance - and they were right. Virtually all participants expressed [...]
The organizers of the 40th Dakar Rally 2018 had announced the increased level of difficulty in advance - and they were right. Practically all participants experienced more or less major problems during the first five stages in Peru. Sébastien Loeb even retired with his Peugeot 3008DKR Maxi on Wednesday.
For the nine-time world rally champion, it was the last chance to win the Dakar at the third attempt. After all, Peugeot will no longer be competing in 2019. At the time of the retirement, the Swiss by choice was only 6:55 minutes behind leader Peterhansel with an SS driving time of around ten and a half hours so far. The day before, Loeb had won the fourth stage in the desert buggy.
Sébastien Loeb: "As has been the case all week in parts, the sand was extremely soft, we could barely get up the dunes and we'd already sanded up briefly once before. In order to avoid a stuck competitor and not get stuck myself, I swerved and then flew into a sand hole hidden behind the crest. The impact was so violent that my co-pilot Daniel Elena was injured. We then waited for our service truck to come and rescue us and finished the stage at a slow pace. However, Daniel's condition does not allow him to continue."
Desert fox Stéphane Peterhansel bites the dust
With his first stage win of the anniversary rally, Stéphane Peterhansel moved to the top of the standings with a 31-minute lead. The Frenchman, who also lives in Switzerland, has already won the Dakar 13 times in Africa and South America.
In second place is his Peugeot teammate Carlos Sainz, followed by the two Toyota Hilux 4WD of the surprisingly strong Belgian Bernard Ten Brinke and the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah. The three-time FIA Country World Cup winner and two-time Dakar winner from Qatar had won the first and third stages, but suffered a time loss of almost one and a half hours on the fourth and fifth day.
