Loeb completes three-peat as Taylor slumps in the sand

Sebastien Loeb may be out of overall contention, but he is still expressing his speed, as he recorded a hat-trick of stage wins at the 2023 Dakar Rally.

Loeb’s first week in the desert was a disastrous one with numerous incidents and mechanical dramas, but he is still making a statement and collected a fourth stage win of the 2023 event.

The Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver dominated the 114km stage, leading from start to finish in the shortest stage of the 45th Dakar Rally.

Loeb’s nearest challenger was Team Audi Sport’s sole remaining competitor, Mattias Ekstrom. 

But Ekstrom was unable to get close to the nine-time World Rally champion and had to settle for second, three minutes back.

Lucas Moraes had a decent day for Overdrive Racing and recorded a top three finish, but more importantly was able to topple Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Lucas Moraes continued his impressive rookie Dakar Rally campaign. Image: Flavien Duhamel / Red Bull Content Pool

However, Moraes was prevented from making any meaningful inroads on the leaderboard, only taking 23 seconds out of the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver’s overall lead.

It means Al-Attiyah still enjoys an imperious 1H 21’ 34” lead on the standout Dakar rookie, who may need to start looking over his shoulder.

With Loeb showing supreme pace, the Frenchman is now only 16 minutes away from Moraes, while Toyota entrant Henk Lategan cannot also be discounted as the battle for second heats up.

After Stage 9 was marred by the tragic death of a spectator and Carlos Sainz’s big crash, Stage 10 fortunately was completed without much drama.

One of the big losers of the sprint stage was two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Romain Dumas, who conceded more than 25 minutes, but just maintained sixth place in the standings.

Vaidoltas Zala showed some strong pace early and sat second until mechanical gremlins got in the way and cost him more than three and a half hours.

The Dakar Rally enters the testing “Empty Quarter” Rub’ al Khali in Stage 11, which will be a 427km drive through the sand.

Taylor suffers painful time loss

Molly Taylor and Andrew Short try to push their Can-Am out of the sand. Image: MCH Photography

Molly Taylor has lost ground in the T4 Modified Production SSV standings after enduring a tough day in the Dakar sand.

Australian rallying star Taylor and American co-driver Andrew Short suffered a long and gruelling 114km journey from Haradh to Shaybah.

At the hight of the South Racing Can-Am combinaiton’s frustrations was trying to rescue their Can-Am after more than half of the front left wheel got bogged in the sand.

The pair eventually made it to the finish after 4H56’15” on the road and finished down in 39th, almost three hours slower than stage winner Gerard Farres Guell.

It was a cruel blow for Taylor, who dropped from eighth to 15th in the class rankings, with the dream of a top 10 finish now looking highly unlikely.

2023 Dakar Rally Cars overall classification after Stage 10

1: N. Al-Attiyah 36hr13m37s

2: L.Moraes +1hr21m34s

3: S. Loeb +1hr37m23s

4: H. Lategan +1hr48m37s

5: G. de Villiers +2hr10m56s

6: R. Dumas +2hr45m24s

7: M. Prokop +2hr50m02s

8: B. Baragwanath +2hr56m28s

9: W. Han +3hr43m22s

10: J. Cruz Yacopini +4hr00m35s

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