2024-01-10 16:28:56
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 17 minutes ago, Updated now
Sébastien Loeb pushed back 21 minutes from Al Attiyah this Wednesday. PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP
The Frenchman voluntarily eased off to benefit from a better starting position in the sixth stage, spread over two days.
The Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) set the best time on Wednesday in the dunes of the Empty Quarter and moved into 2nd place overall after the 5th stage of the Dakar-2024 run between Al-Hofuf and Shubaytah in Arabia Saudi.
With the 48th stage victory of his career in the event, he unlocks his counter for this 2024 edition by finishing ahead of Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit (Toyota), at 1 min 51.
Still leading in the general classification, the Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi arrives 4th and loses 2 minutes on Nasser Al-Attiyah and his co-pilot Mathieu Baumel (2nd at +9 min 03 overall).
Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive), who opened the road on Wednesday, deliberately missed a mandatory crossing point, receiving a 15-minute penalty.
He therefore finished 21 min 13 sec behind the winner of the day, losing time in the general classification which will allow him to start behind on Thursday and, he hopes, to optimize the rest of his race.
The Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Audi) drove in 9 min 02 and slipped to 3rd place overall.
Thursday and Friday, the competitors will discover a new formula for the 6th stage: spread over two days, the “48H chrono” is the last big part of the first week of the Dakar-2024 before a day of rest in Riyadh.
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