Loeb on top as Aussies battle in the dust

Sebastien Loeb hit back to be the fastest on four wheels in Stage 4 of the 2024 Dakar Rally where the two-wheeled Aussies “struggled”.

Nine time World Rally Champion Loeb fought back from opening day dramas to haul in Nasser Al-Attiyah and Yazeed Al-Rajhi late in the 299km special from Al Salamiya to Al-Hofuf.

Initially Al-Rajhi and Al-Attiyah were wrestling for the stage win before Loeb put the foot down across the final three sections to beat them both by more than a minute.

However, a second place in the stage still means Al-Rajhi protects his overall lead over Carlos Sainz Senior that is now just short of four and a half minutes.

Aussies lose time

It was a bruising day for the two-wheeled Aussies Toby Price and Daniel Sanders.

The pair both struggled to find top gear across the bumpy terrain and were more than 15 minutes off the pace of stage winner Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo.

The Chile rider led a Honda 1-2 with teammate Ricky Brabec just shy of three minutes behind.

It was enough for Florimo to steal the bikes lead from Ross Branch, while Price is the highest Aussie in eighth, 34 minutes adrift.

Reflecting on Stage 4, Price was happy to still be on the bike after a “confusing” ride to 15th, but was upbeat for the road ahead.

“The first part was pretty good before there were a lot of spectators and lines everywhere so I got a little bit confused,” the KTM rider said.

“It was a long day and I just tried to stay on two wheels,” he said.

“Not the greatest of results and not too happy but we are still in the rally which is the main thing. I think we can be in a pretty good spot for tomorrow.”

Sanders suffered refuelling issues and could only manage 20th in the stage.

As a result he has now slipped outside of the top 10 in the general classification in 11th, 39 minutes and 43 seconds away from the leader.

Sanders said a fuel leak was the major setback, but also conceded aligning navigation and speed is something he is still chasing.

“It was another rough one,” Sanders said.

“We struggled a lot riding today and just navigated through trying to keep the pace and stay on the road book.

“But unfortunately those two things are not working at the moment so we are struggling a lot.

“At the refuel a lost my rear fuel tank cap so I was leaking fuel everywhere on the back of my leg and felt like I was on fire.

“We had to stop and repair that to save enough fuel to reach the finish line so it was not a great day at all.

“But there are still many days to come so we will regroup and come back again tomorrow.”

Brinkman and Moscatt fight back

Whilst those on the bikes might have battled, the Australian combination on four wheels enjoyed a major milestone in their rally.

Just one day after drive shaft issues saw them miss Stage 3, Glenn Brinkman and Dale Moscatt are back in business.

They rejoined the rally with purpose, pushing their PH Sport prepared Zephyr Buggy to 17th place in the T3 Class, their second best stage result of the rally.

Given they were ruled out of the previous stage before it began, it was an impressive fightback for the On The Brink Motorsport team.

Brinkman was pleased to overcome the challenges the day threw at the team.

“It was pretty good to get back into it again and everything in the car went really well,” he said.

“The first 20km we picked up a puncture but the bad thing was we had to fight our way past a couple of slower cars and a truck.

“The dust was horrendous as usual and you have to be patient which is the hard part.

“My main aim was not to have another flat tyre and once we got to the refuel I felt pretty good after that.

“It was pretty tricky navigation and we heard a lot of people got lost.

“The last 25km were dunes which I am not that comfortable with but I enjoyed that.”

The fifth stage from Al Hofuf to Shubaytah may only be 118km, but will be a physically demanding one as masses of sand dunes near the UAE border await.

Main image by Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

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 On the latest podcast, Bruce, PG and Andrew talk about their three motor racing highlights of 2023, and to balance it out… The three lowlights as well, not lowlifes Bruce!