Sébastien Loeb (BRX) is smiling again. Victim of three punctures and 23 minutes lost on Monday, the Frenchman won the 4th stage of the Dakar on Tuesday in 2h36’2”, his first success of the 2024 edition.It’s a great day, we dominate the specialhe reacted to the microphone of The Team. We didn’t make many mistakes, I pushed all the way and we avoided punctures, it’s cool. The terrain is very difficult, we sometimes ride on very sharp volcanic stones. We go to 150 km/h, it’s very hard on the tires, the cars are also very heavy at the start with a full tank, more than 2.7 tonnes.”
In the end, Loeb won with a 1’08 lead over overall leader Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota). The nine-time WRC world champion has come a long way, after a dark day on Monday with three punctures. Thanks to his first success in this edition, Loeb moved up to 6th place overall, 23’50 behind Al-Rahji. He even gains 1’22 on his rival Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive), 3rd in the stage and overall (+ 11’03). Carlos Sainz (Audi), 4th in the stage at 4’58, remains 2nd in the general classification (+ 4’19). His Audi teammate Stéphane Peterhansel finished his race in 6th place (+5’59).
The terrain was rolling and without major difficulty, except in navigation, between Al-Salamiya and Al-Hofuf – 631 km for 299 km of special. The 5th stage on Wednesday is quite a trap: the competitors arrive in the Empty Quarter desert, with a 645 km stage between Al-Hofuf and Shubaytah, a long morning connection for a 118 km special, with lots of sand and dunes.