Morocco Rally, Stage 4 – Peterhansel attacks, Al-Attiyah and Loeb out for victory!

Rally of Morocco 2023 – Ranking Stage 4:

General classification :

• Dantesque day on the Rallye du Maroc! The penultimate stage towards the dunes of Merzouga trapped many of the contenders for victory in this final of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC).
• The leaders of the competition since the first special, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) were victims of a technical problem just 11 km from the finish. The Qatari and the Frenchman were stopped for an hour and gave up all hope of victory. Fortunately, Al-Attiyah and Baumel were already assured of the W2RC world title before today!

ℹ️ AL ATTIYAH AND BAUMEL SCREECH TO A HALT! | T1

🫣 Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota Gazoo Racing) have stopped at km 332 and are trying to fix their car in the dunes of Merzouga, 11 km before the finish! 🏁

📲 Follow the race live ‣ https://t.co/weYRNbSA91# W2RC... pic.twitter.com/pukaXkKntp

- World Rally-Raid Championship @ 🏍 (@ OfficialW2RC) October 17, 2023

• Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) will not win this 2023 Rally of Morocco. The nine-time world champion WRC had nevertheless started this 4th stage well, by signing the best intermediate time at km 188. At that time, Loeb-Lurquin were teasing Al-Attiyah-Baumel at the top of the general classification, only a minute separating them. Unfortunately, an accident occurred at km 230 for the Alsatian and his Belgian navigator, who will not finish the special. However, Loeb-Lurquin could complete the event with a heavy penalty of several hours if the 4×4 is repaired overnight.
• In the experience, Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Audi) carried out an excellent operation. In ambush since leaving Agadir, “Monsieur Dakar” shifted gears on terrain to his liking. The Frenchman set the best time quite well ahead of Orlando Terranova-Bernardo Graue (BRX, rejected more than 7 minutes).
• In the general classification, Peterhansel-Boulanger makes up a large part of their gap on Yazeed Al-Rajhi-Timo Gottschalk (Toyota). The Saudi driver becomes leader with only a 3'49" margin over the French veteran on the eve of the final special.
• In the top 5 this morning, Guillaume de Mévius and François Cazalet (Toyota) fell back in the hierarchy following a series of three punctures, very early in the stage. Too bad for beginners in class T1+.

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