Loeb salvages some pride as Al-Attiyah extends lead

Nasser Al-Attiyah has increased his advantage at the front of the 2023 Dakar Rally Cars field in Stage 4, won by the fighting Sebastien Loeb after a tight duel at the front.

Al-Attiyah now leads the rally by more than 18 minutes over Yazeed Al Rajhi and Stephane Peterhansel, who are in a tight battle for second with only 34 seconds separating the pair.

Peterhansel looked in the box seat to snatch second and close the gap in the overall classification  after starting the 425km special stage strong.

The Team Audi Sport French driver led the opening 282km leg, but as the day went on he struggled to keep a charging Loeb at bay.

Loeb was a man on a mission after enduring two long and painful days, which saw him lose 90 minutes on the leaderboard, and found some extra speed on the gravel and rocky terrain, which dominated the end of the stage.

Stephane Peterhansel just fell short of stage victory in Dakar. Image: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

The Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver swooped into the lead at the 327km mark and did not let it go, to take his first stage win of the 2023 Dakar Rally.

The fast finish was enough to edge out Peterhansel by just 13 seconds after 4H 11’ 34” of driving.

Carlos Sainz also enjoyed a return to form to make it two Audi’s in the top three of the stage, but he could only regain 16 seconds from Al-Attiyah, who shadowed the Spaniard.

The top four were five minutes up on the rest of the field, with Al Rajhi, Henk Lategan and Mattias Ekstrom the next best.

Molly Taylor slides through the sand in Stage 4. Image: MCH Photography

Taylor rebounds well

In the T4 Modified Production SSV class, Australia’s Molly Taylor returned to form with a 10th place finish in Stage 4.

It was a welcome result after experiencing a “day to forget” yesterday with Taylor and Andrew Short rebounding well and finishing 26 minutes behind stage winner Eryk Goczal.

The solid performance also pushed the South Racing Can-Am entry up two places in the general rankings to 13th, after losing around 90 minutes and dripping from ninth to 15th on Stage 3 alone.

Taylor said it was an enjoyable stage as she found “a rhythm for the first time” at Dakar.

“It was a much more positive day for us and we had a lot of fun,” she said.

“We did what we could and found a really good rhythm for probably the first time this rally.

“We will have a much better starting position for tomorrow, so onwards and upwards.”

The 2023 Dakar Rally now heads to the dunes where a sandy 373km Stage 5 awaits between Ha’il and Ha’il.

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