Dakar 2024 – Al-Attiyah broken down, Loeb wins the 48 Hours in front of Sainz!

Dakar 2024 – 48 Hours classification

General classification

Le Dakar Rally Is 2024 being played out in the Empty Quarter? The desert of dunes, whose surface area equals that of mainland France, proved merciless for the adventurers of the 46th edition of the rally-raid, where the 48 Hours Chrono is held, a unique concept of stage coming from the imagination of David Castera, the Director of the event.

Nearly 600 km entirely traced in the dunes, time frozen at nightfall and seven bivouacs spread across the special tasked with welcoming the competitors according to their progress before releasing them at first light the next day: never before -seen from the authentic African Dakars! The icing on the cake was that the lack of connection and network did not allow the crews to know their provisional classification on Thursday evening. Since outside assistance was prohibited, they were unable to keep up to date. Even we didn't know where the race was going!

It is only this Friday morning, where the stage ends staggeringly and the followers find the connecting route and the sacrosanct Internet connection, that it is possible to draw up a first assessment. And it is devastating.

Al-Attiyah out of contention for victory

Friday morning, fate struck the title holders, those we thought were untouchable: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Prodrive). The Qatari pilot and his French navigator had limited the damage despite their opening position on Thursday. They had only lost between 20 and 30 minutes on the other challengers, which is quite a performance when there is no trace to guide the rider into the virgin dunes (the motorcycles have a separate course in this 48 Hours chrono).

However, everything changed at km 530. A serious mechanical problem forced the rally-raid references to stop for a mechanics session. Passed in front of them, Guerlain Chicherit (Toyota, survivor of the stage despite stubborn dune sickness) felt “that they had it for a long time”.

Although he was finally able to leave, the duo crossed the finish line… 2 hours and 45 minutes behind Sébastien Loeb ! The link and the hub of the left front wheel were simply torn off! It is certain that the Al-Attiyah-Baumel tandem will not make it three consecutive times on the Dakar.

Al-Rajhi at home, Peterhansel unhappy

This passage in the far south east of Saudi Arabia has already cost two favorites dearly for the final victory. Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk (Toyota) retired after 51 km following a series of several rolls at high speed. The Saudi driver, leader of the general classification before this justice of the peace, had not put a wheel out of alignment until then. This error is paid for in this desert which he probably does not know as much as the sections of dunes in the north of the country.

Some 200 km further on, it was “Monsieur Dakar” who was eating the sand. Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger had a flat tire on their super cutting-edge and technological Audi RS Q e-tron hybrid. An incident that usually only lasts a handful of minutes. Except that the hydraulic jack no longer worked. And in the narrow cockpit of the German 4×4, there was no “old-fashioned” emergency jack. So the man with 14 victories on the Dakar had to be patient until his assistance truck arrived. Result: 2 hours lost. He will not win the 2024 Dakar.

Loeb's comeback

Who do we have left then? A clash of generations and technologies. Carlos Sainz (61 years old) and Lucas Cruz (Audi) are in the lead with a small margin over their Swedish teammates Mattias Ekström (45 years old) and Emil Bergkvist. Their hybrid Audi (three Formula Electric engines and one turbo engine DTM serving as a generator) is unbeatable in the dune ridges. Their ability to pick up and accelerate is unrivaled compared to 4x4s with petrol engines (Prodrive, Toyota).

Certainly, Sainz leads the race with a 20-minute lead over his colleague, but who is in 3rd place, 29 minutes behind? Sébastien Loeb (49 years old) and Fabian Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme)! The Alsatian and his Belgian co-driver drove like crazy in this stage and won the 48 Hours, with a minimal lead over Sainz (2 minutes). But the rest is a pit!

Sébastien Loeb partly succeeded in his daring gamble undertaken in Stage 5. The nine-time world champion WRC had voluntarily taken a 15-minute penalty in order not to be among the leading cars in the 48 Hours and thus benefit from a clear track ahead of him. He didn't have to worry about navigation and put his foot down.

The fact remains that his outlay in the general classification remains quite significant over Carlos Sainz. He can reassure himself by planning the festivities for the second half of the Dakar, which will restart after a day of rest on Saturday in Riyadh. The dunes will be present but in smaller quantities than in the Empty Quarter. The stones will appear again, and the Audis, suffering from serious overweight, don't really like that. But neither does Sébastien Loeb, who has an unfortunate tendency to attack too much when caution should be in order. The rest of the Dakar 2024 will be exciting!

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