Loeb: “We will do what we can”

Little by little, special after special, Sébastien Loeb sees his dreams of a first Dakar title fading away. Main rival of leader Nasser Al-Attiyah, the Alsatian does his best but cannot make the connection with the Qatari, well helped by his experience and above all luckier than the Habs.

Depuis sa position de chasseur, le nonuple champion du monde des Rallyes tient tête à son homologue de Toyota qui semble se contenter d’assurer désormais afin de ne prendre aucun risque à deux spéciales de la fin.

« Overall it was a good day, underlined Sébastien Loeb after gaining 1'25 from Nasser Al-Attiyah on today's special. We shot for a minute and a half on a Way-point (checkpoint) but apart from that we rode well and attacked well without any problem.

No (The time gain is not huge. Editor’s note) because these are stages where you are at full throttle all the time so you can't really make a gap. We were at full strength but we couldn't build a gap."

With 32'40 behind the Qatari two days before the final whistle, Sébastien Loeb is no longer hiding his face. Aware of his counterpart's lead, the Alsatian knows that achieving this first victory on the Dakar will not be an easy task.

« It's going to be complicated, he admits. For my part, I try to do my best with some great stages. We will see at the end where we are. It is true that in performance, even when we are out of control, we have difficulty making a gap. The Audis are always faster and we are having trouble hanging on.

We will do what we can. We do not have a choice. The goal is to ride to the end and see where it takes us at the finish. We are not masters of the game because there are too many gaps but we continue."

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General classification of the Dakar 2022