MADRID, 14 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French Sébastien Loeb (BRX) has made history in the Dakar Rally by becoming the first driver in the car category to add six consecutive stage victories, achieving it this Saturday in the 154-kilometre day between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf, while the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) is close to his fifth title.
In the thirteenth stage of the toughest ‘raid’ in the world and with only one remaining, Loeb won for the seventh time in this edition, sixth in a row, to break the tie he had with the Finn Ari Vatanen, who achieved five consecutive partial victories in 1989. In addition, he is also the first driver since the Spanish Carlos Sainz -in 2011- to win seven stages in a Dakar.
With a time of 2:26:17, the Frenchman, entrenched in second place overall, beat Al-Attiyah, second of the day, with 5:28 and who has it in his hands to revalidate the four-wheel title and win his fifth title in the rally. The Swede Mattias Ekstrom (Audi) was third.
Meanwhile, in the motorcycle category, the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM) achieved the stage victory with a 27-second advantage over the South African Michael Docherty (Husqvarna) and 57 over the Argentine Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna).
The Australian Toby Price (KTM), fifth of the day, 2:28 behind the winner, remains at the top of the general classification and will have to defend the 12 seconds that separate him from Benavides in the final stage if he wants to lift his third championship trophy. Dakar.