MADRID, 9 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French rally driver Sébastien Loeb (BRX) won this Tuesday in cars the fourth stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally, held between Al Salamiya and Al-Hofuf over 299 kilometers of special, and expands his record with his first victory in this edition, while In motorcycles, the victory went to Honda's Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo, who scored a double so far in the race and takes the overall lead.
Loeb, with a time of 2:36:02, beat the general leader Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota Overdrive Racing) in the fourth stage by a narrow margin of 1:08 minutes while Nasser Al-Attiyah (Nasser Racing) He was third with his Prodrive, 1:22 behind the Frenchman.
Al-Attiyah dominated a good part of the stage but finally, at the finish line, he was overtaken by the Saudi driver Al Rajhi and also by the pair formed by Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lurquin. With this stage, Loeb now has 24 partial victories in the Dakar and is the fifth car driver with the most stages in his record.
Again close to the lead, with a 10-second penalty and 5:08 behind Loeb, the Spanish Carlos Sainz tried to get the most out of his electronic Audi. He surpassed his teammate Stéphane Peterhansel, fifth in this 'fast' day with which the Dakar is approaching the famous 'Empty Quarter'.
It was a great day for two other Spanish drivers, with Nani Roma (along with Alex Haro) thirteenth in the Ford (with just 14:37 lost counting a penalty) and Laia Sanz (Astara Team) continuing to set a personal stage record with her 14th square, 16:38 from Loeb. For his part, fellow Catalan Isidre Esteve (Repsol Toyota) entered the finish line 37th.
In the provisional general classification Yazeed Al Rajhi increases his position as leader, with 4:29 minutes of advantage over Carlos Sainz. The 'Matador' is losing steam against Al Rajhi, still with a world of racing left to play, while Nasser Al-Attiyah is third at 11:03 after passing Toyota's Brazilian Lucas Moraes.
CORNEJO SIGNS DOUBLE IN MOTORCYCLES
In the motorcycle category, the Chilean rider José Ignacio Cornejo (Monster Energy Honda Team) won the stage with 2:59 minutes ahead of his teammate Ricky Brabec, while the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM) was third at 3: 18.
Cornejo flew to prevent Kevin Benavides from overtaking him, who won 3:42 minutes in bonuses. This is the Chilean's eighth victory in the Dakar and the second in this 2024 edition.
Ross Branch, who lost his position as overall leader, was fourth in this fourth special ahead of Adrien Van Beveren, Luciano Benavides and the Spanish Joan Barreda (Hero), seventh at 8:15 and with another minute of penalty on his backs.
The Botswanan Branch lost 4:26 at the finish line and gives up command of the overall standings to Nacho Cornejo, who now has a 1:15 margin over him, 4:56 over Brabec and now more than 20 minutes over Kevin Benavides, Van Beveren, Luciano Benavides, Pablo Quintanilla and company. Joan Barreda is the best Spaniard, 12th, 42:34 behind Cornejo.