Dakar Rally
After the breakup with Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mathieu Baumel breaks the silence: “We have to think about the future”
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Rally-Raid
Dakar, Stage 8: Ekström narrowly wins, Loeb whips
The Audi RS Q e-tron of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist, winner of stage 8 of the Dakar 2022. © Florent Gooden / DPPI
The Dakar 2022 is launching into remakes. This Monday, January 10, between Al Dawadimi and Wadi Ad-Dawasir (Saudi Arabia), the “remontada” operation set up by Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (BRX) was a copy of the previous day's stage.
The Franco-Belgian crew, already on the offensive after the rest day between Riyadh and Al Dawadimi, did it again at the wheel of the BRX Hunter T1+ built by Prodrive. Despite an unfavorable starting position since they had to lead the way in the desert, the nine-time world rally champion (WRC) offered a recital on the first part of the special.
In the lead at km 201, Sébastien Loeb-Fabian Lurquin then gave up a little ground to a herd of Audi RS Q e-tron hybrids wound up like electric batteries. However, no big mistake was made by the leading crew of the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team, who finished the day 2'19'' behind the day's winners, but more importantly, they are 7'01'' behind the leaders in the general classification, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota).
The Qatari driver, associated with the French navigator, however left behind the exhausts of their rivals. But from the first crossing point, the three-time winner of the Dakar let go and continued to drive at a false pace. Outgoing Cross-Country Rally World Cup winners preserve an advantage of 37'58'' with four stages remaining.
Laughing Audi
The brand with the Rings came close to scoring a resounding hat-trick. Thanks to Sébastien Loeb, Audi can ''only'' boast a double. But the winning crew is not what you might think.
Indeed, Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist were supposed to learn from their illustrious elders Carlos Sainz-Lucas Cruz and Stéphane Peterhansel-Édouard Boulanger. However, the Swedes, for their second start on a Dakar (after a tumultuous adventure in SSV modified T3 with Yamaha in 2021), continue to progress.
Constantly neck and neck with Peterhansel-Boulanger, the former champion of DTM and rallycross open your meter on a rally-raid, and not just any raid! The French teammates are beaten by 49''.
In the general classification, we note the disappearance of Lucio Alvarez-Monléon (Toyota) due to a transmission problem.
Stage classification:
General classification :
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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