Loeb, important failure and Sainz more leader of Dakar 2024

Carlos Sainz is the leader of Dakar 2024. With four long days left to complete the toughest test in the world, the Spanish driver increased his lead in the general standings over Sébastien Loeb to 25 minutes. All this, thanks to knowing how to resist the attacks of a French driver who for most of the special seems to have cornered the Madrid rider, approaching, dangerously, the leader of the race. However, the navigation error of Loeb and his co-pilot Fabian Lurquin served Carlos Sainz to give another blow to the morale of the 9-time world champion, to further complicate his return to a good head-to- head fight between two of the best drivers in the history of rallying, now facing each other in the vastness of the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

With 4 stages remaining, nothing was decided in a race where nothing could be taken for granted until the last metre. There are still plenty of dangers for Sainz to avoid during the 1,443 kilometer special stage that remains to be fought. Any reliability problem, with an electrified Audi with thousands of sensors, can change dramatically. Sainz knows this, because he is thinking about nothing but the here and now, focusing on performing at his best with his co-driver Lucas Cruz to finish one of his greatest works in the Dakar against a Loeb who will not throw towel to the final finish line.

Of course, things are going very well for Carlos. He is in a perfect position, with a good cushion to continue pushing and at the same time trying to be more careful, taking fewer risks at key danger points. That should have been his strategy since he dealt a blow to his rivals on the marathon stage. He warned that Loeb would attack but in Dakar, taking risks could pay off in the end.

Loeb seemed to want to counter Carlos’s phrase when he opened the track on stage 6 and gave a recital. “He beat us all.” He went from being 29 minutes behind Sainz to facing stage 8 now just 19 minutes away. It was his turn to open the track again. I wanted to continue painting a wonderful work of art, driving hard, attacking with great confidence to put pressure on Carlos. At the start, Loeb broke free and beat him by almost 3 minutes in the first 111 kilometers of the special. He overtook a 3-minute margin on Sainz at kilometer 165 and thus placed himself just 15 minutes away from Carlos’ virtual Dakar general classification. He cut half the margin that Sainz had on the rest day in just a day and a half.

Loeb seems to have tightened things up and everyone is paying attention to what might happen on a final stretch of rocks. Sainz knew, at that moment, how to continue driving with his head, without getting carried away by his natural desire to always attack and accelerate at full speed. He has a mattress and he knows that Loeb can’t have everything that is expensive. I must have done something wrong. And in the perfect picture painted by the French artist, one stain can destroy all the previous work. At kilometer 406, Loeb lost 10 minutes to the best at that point, and lost nearly 6 minutes to Sainz. From losing 3 minutes to the Spaniard, to losing 6. From being 15 minutes in the provisional general classification, to 25. All, because of a navigation error. Loeb and Lurquin got lost for a few moments, they came back to straighten their course and ended up meeting Lucas Moraes (Toyota) and Catalan co-driver Armand Monleón. Armand, guiding the Brazilian pilot, took the reins of navigation with Loeb at the wheel and together they reached the finish line. From behind, Sainz was rubbing his hands together as he reached the finish line, striking Loeb with a crucial blow at a crucial moment.

If he cuts back, Loeb could grow up and tighten up a lot, putting more pressure on Audi’s Spanish crew. In this way, Loeb saw that his wings were clipped and had to take risks, burning more cartridges if he wanted to unnerve ‘El Matador’.

In stage 8, in addition, Carlos can count on the help of two luxury squires such as Peterhansel and Ekström. In the absence of his two Audi teammates reaching the finish line, the Swede was ahead at the 433 km point and Peterhansel in third position. The two will start ahead of Carlos and could be of great help to help the Spaniard in case of any problems or complicated navigation. But be careful. Loeb is in no way excluded. Loeb then tried to play his own time-wasting strategy in stage 5 to come from behind in stage 6 and win the stage. This time, he will start further than Carlos on stage 9 and if he attacks at all, he can cut a lot of time off the Spaniard. The excitement continues. Loeb was not done with his attack.