The poor outcome of the two days in the ‘Empty Quarter’ has made Toby Price the leader on two wheels. Loeb takes his fifth consecutive win, something that had only happened once in the raid’s history, and Al-Attiyah is close to the title
Those in charge of the FIA and the ASO will have to accept sweeping changes by 2024 if they want to retain the label of the “toughest raid in the world” alongside the Dakar. Access to the supposedly terrifying “empty room,” the 650,000-square-mile desert that covers much of Saudi Arabia, would mean a before and after, according to what they had to sell in recent months, and in the end it was no more than a comfortable and above all fast walk for the participants.
The mechanical labor and physical exertion associated with other stages of these characteristics, with no mechanical assistance and with long days that could even end at night, was minimized by planning these days. With just under 350km, they cleared what would be the critical day to take the overall win, and it wasn’t far from difficult. In fact, there have been critical voices on this decision before, and it’s clear they weren’t wrong.
Just because it wasn’t a thrilling marathon resolution doesn’t mean it’s all settled. At least in the motorcycle category, where (as planned) the title is played until the last kilometers. Two-time champion Toby Price heads into the penultimate day of the raid with first place in hand after taking a big bite out of Skyler Howes.
Partly thanks to bonuses, the KTM Australian finished third, just under two minutes behind Nacho Cornejo on the Honda. With this result and a great stage finish on the toughest terrain on arrival in Shaybah, the 2016 and 2019 winner will venture into the less than 300 kilometers remaining on his third ‘Touareg’. To do this, he must check Howes, willing to give Husqvarna a much-anticipated win that would break the dominance of KTM and Honda over the decades. The American is only half a minute away, without neglecting Kevin Benavides who, after a somewhat hesitant stage with options, reaches the penultimate round after being 2:22 behind the winner of the day. Less than three minutes separate the Argentinian from Price.
Sebastien Loeb’s fighting spirit is undeniable in this Dakar 2023 and especially in this second week. The nine-time World Rally Champion took his fifth straight victory on Friday, sixth overall in this edition of the raid, placing his name alongside the legendary Ari Vatanen, who was the only one to date to achieve a partial poker win of tracked fashion. He did it in 1989, when the Dakar was still in Africa and it was much tougher than it is now.
For Loeb it was a relatively quiet stage because everything went well with him. Something that, when you are in a marathon, is not expected. ««A perfect day: no mistakes, no stops, no half laps. We drove well and the car responded without any problems. We aim for second place and we attack to get there. I prefer my current situation to that of the first week. We come from a long way back and generally signed a good rally, but luck was not with us. I didn’t expect to go back that far, I thought I would be fifth at most. But now that untouchables like Sainz, Stéphane and Yazeed are out of the race, I can now aim for second place,” he commented upon arrival at camp.
And it is that after this result Loeb was able to overtake the Brazilian Moraes, who will remain the best ‘rookie’ of this edition if he manages to finish. The Alsatian can only aim to finish in that more than decent second place unless Al-Attiyah suffers a catastrophic problem in the two remaining days. The Qatari crossed the finish line in third with no pressure, 3 and a half minutes behind Loeb and takes the final two stages by an hour and a half. Even if he has some bad luck, he still has a fairly comfortable mattress to become a five-time Dakar champion.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
