Sébastien Loeb took advantage of the 10th stage of the Dakar to take more than seven minutes from Carlos Sainz. The Frenchman is now less than a quarter of an hour behind the Spaniard in the general classification two days before the end of the rally. Ricky Brabec has consolidated his position as leader in motorcycle racing.
[Mis à jour le 17 janvier à 12h24] Let it be said, the 46th edition of the Dakar has not yet delivered its verdict. The tenth and antepenultimate stage contested on Wednesday around Al Ula, with a loop of 612 kilometers including 371 of special, seriously reignited the suspense in the car category. Leader of the general classification for almost a week, Carlos Sainz lost in a single day a third of the lead he had at the start this Wednesday over Sébastien Loeb. The gap between the two men, the only ones now able to dream of final victory barring a twist of fate, was 20 minutes this morning, it is now only 13 minutes as the rally ends in forty-eight hours in Yanbu.
It was during kilometer 248 of the special that Carlos Sainz lost a lot of time, more than ten minutes, before leaving thanks to the help of Swede Mattias Ekström, who quickly arrived on the scene to lend a hand to his Audi teammate. At this moment, at the time of the score placed at kilometer 264, the Frenchman was only four minutes behind the Spaniard in the virtual general classification. But a few dozen kilometers further on, the Alsatian had to make a stop in his turn, also letting precious time slip away from his rival who finished very strongly. Only seventeenth in the stage, Sébastien Loeb now has 13 minutes and 22 seconds to make up for Carlos Sainz. He can still believe in his chances of winning his first Dakar but the driver of the Prodrive Hunter buggy will have to drive very fast during the last 655 kilometers of special to cover.
Ricky Brabec gets closer to his second Dakar victory
The victory of the day went to Guerlain Chicherit. After turning around several times, the Frenchman was finally rewarded for his efforts. At the wheel of his Toyota Hilux, the former freestyle ski champion beat the Italian Eugenio Amos (+4’11”) and the South African Brian Baragwanath (+5’43”). A success which allows Guerlain Chicherit to enter the Top 5 of the general ranking. A position that he will try to defend during the last two days.
There were a lot fewer twists and turns on the motorcycles. This tenth stage did not in fact cause any change in the Top 10 of the general classification. The main information is that Ricky Brabec has consolidated his leadership position by winning for the first time since the start on January 5. The American, with exceptional consistency on this Dakar, pushed back his runner-up Ross Branch by almost 4 additional minutes to now have a lead of more than 10 minutes (+10’54”) with forty-eight hours to go. A second coronation on the Dakar, four years after the first, is now within reach of the Californian.
The suspense is actually more suspenseful in the race for the other two places on the podium. Third and second respectively at Al Ula this Wednesday, Adrien Van Beveren and Jose Ignacio Cornejo, relegated to just 20 and…2 seconds behind Ricky Brabec at the finish, got closer to Ross Branch. The three men are now less than four minutes apart overall, with the Frenchman now only 52 seconds behind the Botswanan in second place. The battle will rage until the end.
Cars: the general classification at the end of the 10th stage
1. (=) Sainz/Cruz (Audi) in 41h35’12”
2. (=) Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) at 13’22”
3. (=) Moraes/Monleon (Toyota) at 1h02’44”
4. (=) From Mevius/Panseri (Toyota) at 1h27’09”
5. (+1) Chicherit/Winocq (Toyota) at 1h47’55”
6. (-1) Serradori/Minaudier (Century) at 1h48’59”
7. (=) Prokop/Chytka (Ford) at 1h59’58”
8. (=) De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota) at 2h17’20”
9. (=) Botterill/Cummigs (Toyota) at 2h24’26”
10. (=) Vanagas/Sikk (Toyota) at 2h40’51”
………..
13. (+3) Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi) at 3h52’11
82. (-64) Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi) at 30h24’46”
Motorcycles: the general classification at the end of the 10th stage
1. (=) Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) in 44h45’28”
2. (=) Ross Branch (BWA/Hero) at 10”54″
3. (=) Adrien Van Beveren (FRA/Honda) at 11’46”
4. (=) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (CHI/Honda) at 13’48”
5. (=) Kévin Benavides (ARG/KTM) at 32’43”
6. (=) Toby Price (AUS/KTM) at 42′
7. (=) Luciano Benavides (ARG/Husqvarna) at 51’42”
8. (=) Daniel Sanders (AUS/GASGAS) at 1h’00’34”
9. (=) Stefan Svitko (SVQ/KTM) at 1h39’03”
10. (=) Martin Michek (RTC/KTM) at 2h29’45”
………..
17. (=) Pablo Quintanilla (CHI/Honda) at 5:02:41
The 2024 Dakar route
- Friday January 5-Prologue: Al-Ula – Al-Ula → 128 km including 28km of special (Winners: Ekström/Schareina)
- Saturday January 6-Stage 1: Alula – Al Henakiyah → 541km including 414km of special (Winners: De Mevius/Branch)
- Sunday January 7-Stage 2: Al Henakiyah – Al Duwadimi → 655km including 463km of special (Winners: Peterhansel/Cornejo Florimo)
- Monday January 8-Stage 3: Al Duwadimi – Al Salamiya → 733km including 438km of special (Winners: Moraes/K. Benavides)
- Tuesday January 9-Stage 4: Al Salamiya – Al-Hofuf → 631km including 299km of special (Winners: Loeb/Cornejo Florimo)
- Wednesday January 10-Stage 5: Al-Hofuf – Shubaytah → 645km including 118km of special (Winners: Al-Attiyah/Quintanilla)
- Thursday 11 and Friday 12 January-Stage 6: Shubaytah – Shubaytah → 758km including 549km of special (Winners: Loeb/Van Beveren)
- Saturday January 13: Rest
- Sunday January 14-Stage 7: Riyadh – Al Duwadimi → 873km including 483km of special (Winners: Loeb/Cornejo Florimo)
- Monday January 15-Stage 8: Al Duwadimi – Hail → 678km including 458km of special (Winners: Ekström/K. Benavides)
- Tuesday January 16-Stage 9: Hail – Al Ula → 639km including 417km of special (Winners: Loeb/Van Beveren)
- Wednesday January 17-Stage 10: Al Ula – Al Ula → 612km including 371km of special (Winners: Chicherit/Brabec)
- Thursday January 18-Stage 11: Al Ula – Yanbu → 587km including 480km of special
- Friday January 19-Stage 12: Yanbu-Yanbu → 328km including 175km special
The main entrants in the car category
– Al Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) – n°200
– Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°201
– Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°202
– Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) – n°203
– Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°204
– Yacopini/Oliveiras (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°205
– Moraes/Monleon (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°206
– Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°207
– De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°209
– Roma/Bravo (Ford Ranger) – n°210
– Chicherit/Winocq (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°211
– Quintero/Zenz (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°216
– De Mévius/Panseri (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°221
– Baumgart/Cincea (Prodrive Hunter) – n°247
The main entrants in the motorcycle category
– Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) – n°1
– Toby Price (KTM) – n°2
– Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) – n°4
– Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) – n°5
– Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) – n°7
– Ricky Brabec (Honda) – n°9
– Skyler Howes (Honda) – n°10
– Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda) – n°11
– Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) – n°16
– Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) – n°42
– Ross Branch (Hero) – n°46
– Kevin Benavides (KTM) – n°47
– Tosha Schareina (Honda) – n°73
– Joan Barredo (Hero) – n°88
On which channel to follow the Dakar 2024?
There are changes in 2024. A privileged partner of the rally from the start, France Télévisions will no longer be the main broadcaster of the race this year. Only the Journal du Dakar will be offered each evening to viewers of the public service channel around 8:50 p.m. This 46th edition marks the arrival of the Dakar on the L’Equipe Channel. Broadcast unencrypted on TNT, on channel 21, the channel of the major sports daily will cover the race in detail.
The big live show will allow you to see the arrival of the main competitors every day between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with several journalists and consultants on site to collect the participants’ first reactions. It will also be possible to watch the channel’s Dakar Journal from 6:20 p.m. while the summary of each stage will be broadcast at 8 p.m. For those who were unable to watch, the best moments from each stage will be rebroadcast every day from 11 a.m. Note that the Eurosport group, via its channels 1 and 2, will still follow the race, with a summary of around fifty minutes each day at 8 p.m., 11:30 p.m. or the next morning at 8 a.m.