Dakar Stage 4: Loeb beats Peterhansel to Stage 4 win

The fourth stage of the Dakar took place at altitude, with a profile that never dropped below 800 meters and sometimes climbed up to 1,300 meters.

The cool weather accompanied the riders, drivers and crews on this 425 km long loop to the west of Ha’il.

The previous day’s rain significantly changed the nature of the terrain, but not the beauty of the canyons and plateaux visited by the route of the day’s special.

Cars

Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Sébastien Loeb finally put an end to his run of bad luck on the Dakar Rally by taking his first stage victory of the 2023 edition on the Ha’il loop.

Having lost more than an hour with a series of punctures on stage two, and a subsequent trackrod arm failure on Tuesday, Loeb’s chances of a first victory on the rally-raid were all but extinguished before the start of stage four.

LOEB Sebastien (fra), Bahrain Raid Extreme, BRX, Prodrive Hunter, Auto, FIA W2RC, portrait during the Stage 2 of the Dakar 2023 between Sea Camp and Al-‘Ula, on January 2nd, 2023 in Al-‘Ula, Saudi Arabia – Photo Julien Delfosse / DPPI

But a trouble-free run through the 425km test following a close battle with Audi’s Stéphane Peterhansel enabled the nine-time World Rally champion to emerge as the quickest driver at the finish by 13 seconds.

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel continue to lead for Toyota Gazoo Racing, having extended their advantage over second-placed Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz, who dropped two minutes to the defending Dakar winners.

But while Prodrive celebrated its second stage victory in as many days following Guerlain Chicherit’s fastest time on Tuesday, it lost one of its factory Hunters as Orlando Terranova was forced out of the stage after 20km through injury.

A team statement said: “Orly returned to the bivouac with a painful back. He had a big landing yesterday and was OK, but today after just 10kms, his back was hurting again so he decided to return to Ha’il.”

Terranova, who had been running in the top five overall, has undergone an X-ray and will consult a physio before making a decision on whether to continue from stage five.

Bikes

Joan Barreda Bort claimed victory in the bikes categories.

Dakar legend Joan Barreda Bort claimed his 29th stage win at the Dakar Rally today. The Spanish rider, nicknamed Bang Bang lived up to his nickname as he blasted his way across the final section of the special stage to claim victory with a time of 4 hours, 28 minutes and 18 seconds.

#5 Joan Barreda Bort

Bort beat Monster Energy Honda’s Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla to the top spot by just 16 seconds. Husqvarna’s American rider Skyler Howes claimed the third spot with a time of 4 hours, 29 minutes and 23 seconds taking advantage of 3 minutes and 35 seconds worth of bonuses he earned while riding across the sands of Saudi Arabia today.

However, it was not a good day for Indian supporters as the only Indian rider in the race crashed out of the Dakar today as did Hero’s Joaquim Rodrigues.

Cars Stage 4

Pos. No. Driver/Navigator Team Time Behind
1 201 (Fra) Sebastien Loeb

(Bel) Fabian Lurquin

Bahrain Raid Xtreme 04h 11′ 34”
2 204 (Fra) Stéphane Peterhansel

(Fra) Edouard Boulanger

Team Audi Sport 04h 11′ 47” + 00h 00′ 13”
3 207 (Esp) Carlos Sainz

(Esp) Lucas Cruz

Team Audi Sport 04h 13′ 24” + 00h 01′ 50”
4 200 (Qat) Nasser Al-Attiyah

(Fra) Mathieu Baumel

Toyota Gazoo Racing 04h 13′ 40” + 00h 02′ 06”
5 202 (Sau) Yazeed Al Rajhi

(Deu) Dirk Von Zitzewitz

Overdrive Racing 04h 18′ 38” + 00h 07′ 04”
6 217 (Zaf) Henk Lategan

(Zaf) Brett Cummings

Toyota Gazoo Racing 04h 18′ 57” + 00h 07′ 23”
7 211 (Swe) Mattias Ekstrom

(Swe) Emil Bergkvist

Team Audi Sport 04h 22′ 19” + 00h 10′ 45”
8 230 (Bra) Lucas Moraes

(Deu) Timo Gottschalk

Overdrive Racing 04h 25′ 22” + 00h 13′ 48”
9 205 (Zaf) Giniel De Villiers

(Zaf) Dennis Murphy

Toyota Gazoo Racing 04h 29′ 45” + 00h 18′ 11”
10 231 (Fra) Romain Dumas

(Fra) Max Delfino

Rebellion Racing 04h 43′ 56” + 00h 32′ 22”

 

Bikes Stage 4

Pos. No. Rider Team Time Behind
1 5 (Esp) Joan Barreda Bort Monster Energy Jb Team 04h 28′ 18”
2 7 (Chl) Pablo Quintanilla Monster Energy Honda Team 04h 28′ 34” + 00h 00′ 16”
3 10 (Usa) Skyler Howes Husqvarna Factory Racing 04h 29′ 23” + 00h 01′ 05”
4 8 (Aus) Toby Price Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing 04h 30′ 42” + 00h 02′ 24”
5 42 (Fra) Adrien Van Beveren Monster Energy Honda Team 04h 30′ 55” + 00h 02′ 37”
6 77 (Arg) Luciano Benavides Husqvarna Factory Racing 04h 31′ 31” + 00h 03′ 13”
7 47 (Arg) Kevin Benavides Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing 04h 31′ 37” + 00h 03′ 19”
8 18 (Aus) Daniel Sanders Red Bull Gasgas Factory Racing 04h 34′ 25” + 00h 06′ 07”
9 11 (Chl) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo Monster Energy Honda Team 04h 37′ 22” + 00h 09′ 04”
10 15 (Esp) Lorenzo Santolino Sherco Factory 04h 38′ 44” + 00h 10′ 26”

 

Cars Overall

Pos. No. Driver/Navigator Team Time Behind
1 200 (Qat) Nasser Al-Attiyah

(Fra) Mathieu Baumel

Toyota Gazoo Racing 16h 34′ 13”
2 202 (Sau) Yazeed Al Rajhi

(Deu) Dirk Von Zitzewitz

Overdrive Racing 16h 52′ 31” + 00h 18′ 18”
3 204 (Fra) Stéphane Peterhansel

(Fra) Edouard Boulanger

Team Audi Sport 16h 53′ 05” + 00h 18′ 52”
4 207 (Esp) Carlos Sainz

(Esp) Lucas Cruz

Team Audi Sport 17h 07′ 08” + 00h 32′ 55”
5 217 (Zaf) Henk Lategan

(Zaf) Brett Cummings

Toyota Gazoo Racing 17h 19′ 38” + 00h 45′ 25”
6 230 (Bra) Lucas Moraes

(Deu) Timo Gottschalk

Overdrive Racing 17h 19′ 40” + 00h 45′ 27”
7 205 (Zaf) Giniel De Villiers

(Zaf) Dennis Murphy

Toyota Gazoo Racing 17h 22′ 26” + 00h 48′ 13”
8 211 (Swe) Mattias Ekstrom

(Swe) Emil Bergkvist

Team Audi Sport 17h 24′ 13” + 00h 50′ 00”
9 210 (Cze) Martin Prokop

(Cze) Viktor Chytka

Orlen Benzina Team 17h 48′ 56” + 01h 14′ 43”
10 215 (Nld) Erik Van Loon

(Fra) Sébastien Delaunay

Overdrive Racing 17h 49′ 53” + 01h 15′ 40”

 

Bikes Overall

Pos. No. Rider Team Time Behind
1 18 (Aus) Daniel Sanders Red Bull Gasgas Factory Racing 18h 40′ 03”
2 10 (Usa) Skyler Howes Husqvarna Factory Racing 18h 43′ 36” + 00h 03′ 33”
3 47 (Arg) Kevin Benavides Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing 18h 44′ 08” + 00h 04′ 05”
4 5 (Esp) Joan Barreda Bort Monster Energy Jb Team 18h 44′ 33” + 00h 04′ 30”
5 8 (Aus) Toby Price Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing 18h 47′ 20” + 00h 07′ 17”
6 9 (Usa) Mason Klein Bas World Ktm Racing Team 18h 50′ 08” + 00h 10′ 05”
7 7 (Chl) Pablo Quintanilla Monster Energy Honda Team 18h 51′ 08” + 00h 11′ 05”
8 42 (Fra) Adrien Van Beveren Monster Energy Honda Team 18h 58′ 03” + 00h 18′ 00”
9 77 (Arg) Luciano Benavides Husqvarna Factory Racing 19h 01′ 19” + 00h 21′ 16”
10 52 (Aut) Matthias Walkner Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing 19h 08′ 28” + 00h 28′ 25”

 

 

 

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