The 2024 Dakar Rally is nearing its conclusion as the competition enters the eleventh of 12 stages. However, this new edition of the toughest race in the world It seems that it will have an earlier – and bitter – end, for Sébastien Loeb, who until now had been Carlos Sainz’s fiercest rival for getting a new statuette of the ‘Touareg’.
And the aspirations of the French BRX driver have vanished in one fell swoop in a Stage 11 in which he was surprised by the breakage of the right front fork of his Hunter.
A problem that left the French Prodrive duo with few options except withdrawal from Stage 11. and begin the last stage tomorrow, although finally the French driver has had the support of the YunXiang China team. An aid that allows Loeb to get back on track and fight for the podium. Not so for the victory of un Dakar 2024 that seems to remain in the hands of Carlos Sainzat the expense of what may happen in this defining stage, which for the moment is led by the Spanish Audi.
Carlos Sainz, one step away from Dakar 2024 after Loeb’s problem in Stage 11
Thus, for several days the penultimate stage had been postulated as key to defining the final result of a Dakar 2024 progressively more closed on the fight between Carlos Sainz and Sébastien Loeb.
In this way, the result of the tenth stage left no room for doubt, after seeing how the distance between the two was reduced to only 13 minutes and 22 seconds. A tiny margin that left everything in the hands of the hardness of a 480km penultimate stage on rocky terrain where anything could happen.
That was undoubtedly the hope of Sébastien Loeb, who ended up frustrated yesterday after seeing how he once again lost the opportunity to deal a greater blow to the advantage that Carlos Sainz still defended in the lead. However, in the end it was the nine-time world champion who was hurt by the harshness of a test that could work either for him or against him.
An early breakage that forced Loeb and Lurquin to stop at kilometer 132, waiting for the assistance truck to try to correct a problem that, according to ASO, threatened to force the French couple to withdraw from until They have received assistance from Prodrive’s other team, YunXiang China. Which in any case takes them out of contention for a Dakar that once again resists Loeb after the runners-up finishes in 2022 and 2023.
After this news and with a little less than a stage and a half ahead, Carlos Sainz is closer than ever to achieving his fourth Dakar Rally conquest, now enjoying a comfortable lead of more than an hour in the general standings over the Toyota of Lucas Moraes. A margin that invites us to think that only a ‘Loeb-style’ problem could separate Carlos Sainz and Audi to make history and win the first Dakar with an electric car: the Audi Audi RS Q e-tron.
Audi’s support, key to Carlos Sainz’s leadership of the Dakar 2024
Without a doubt, an unfair ending for the French driver in his pursuit of a victory in the prestigious desert race. Loeb had already accumulated four stage victories in a 2024 Dakar where he had applied a different strategy to Sainz, although just as effective; Only a navigation error and yesterday’s late puncture – in the wheel without a hydraulic jack – had prevented the nine-time champion from putting even more pressure on Carlos Sainz, or even from leading the general classification.
But in the world of Rally every last kilometer counts, which for the moment seems to work in favor of Carlos Sainz and the Audi team, who in this edition seem to make up for the bad luck of 2022. UBetter fortune but not at all fortuitous, since the brand with the rings has maintained a solid team strategy among the Audis to help its winning horse. Philosophy of a capital success thanks to gestures like that of Mattias Ekstöm yesterdaywho saved Carlos Sainz from losing the lead by helping the Spaniard after suffering a third puncture.
This attitude of camaraderie contrasts with the image that yesterday offered Nasser Al-Attiyah, ruled out for the 2024 Dakar, and who decided to retire from the competition instead of staying to help his Prodrive teammate, Sébastien Loeb. After seeing how Team YunXiang China has saved Loeb’s podium chances, the question that arises is what would have happened if Al-Attiyah had stayed on and been able to ride closer to the other Hunter. Gestures and attitudes that may seem minor, but that end up making a difference in a race of these dimensions.
Despite everything, there is still Dakar ahead, where it would not be the first time that a new final shock occurred.
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Nicolás is an expert in Formula 1 and other motor categories, which he has been following for almost 20 years (which is almost his entire life). Since joining Car and Driver in 2022, he has focused his work as a writer on Grand Prix coverage and current sporting issues surrounding Formula 1, its teams and drivers. All of this without neglecting issues related to analysis and opinion, where he applies the experience gained after many years closely following the great circus and everything that surrounds its Paddock.
The fact that he has followed an interdisciplinary academic career has never prevented him from sharing his passion for racing on both four and two wheels and connecting with the public since his days as a teenager. In this way, Nicolás has collaborated sporadically on various Formula 1 and MotoGP projects, both in web format and writing podcasts, in French and Spanish. And he also had a blog dedicated to this topic, Infomotor F1. This before taking the leap and starting as an editor at ‘Formula F1’.
As can be deduced, the passion for racing is an integral part of his life, which added to his enormous curiosity has led him to look far beyond the present moment, exploring the History of Formula 1 and sharing this encyclopedic knowledge with the viewer. of today. He is also perfectly aware that each experience represents a unique learning opportunity, which does not exempt any career, which he is always willing to see and enjoy with the conviction of continuing to improve and learn, no matter what category they fall into.