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Loeb clings to the miracle in the nondescript 2023 Dakar marathon

Sebastien Loeb, during the eleventh stage of the Dakar. / reuters

11th stage

The first part of the Saudi ‘Empty Quarter’ is more comfortable than expected and allows Howes to regain command of the overall motorcycle standings

The organization of the Dakar had raised the feared marathon day for the final stretch of the raid. He had done it by entering the ‘Empty Quarter’, the Rub al-Khali desert, which is the largest sand desert in the world. It seemed that it was going to be a favorable day for breaking the scheme, but it was not like that in the queen categories. Neither in motorcycles nor in cars there were major changes, but there were in other classes, such as the T3 light prototypes, where Guillaume de Mevius lost the lead at a critical moment… and it is not the first edition that has happened to him.

On two wheels, Skyler Howes reclaimed the lead after coming on just over two minutes behind Luciano Benavides at the finish, which knocked his brother Kevin out of top spot overall. Howes, who can give Husqvarna an unexpected but long-awaited first Dakar win, won’t be able to take anything for granted until the final day. Toby Price, who already knows what it’s like to lift a Touareg (he did it twice, in 2016 and 2019), is on the lookout to keep KTM as the undisputed kings of the (supposedly) toughest raid in the world.

The Australian is less than half a second behind the American, who must not lose sight of the older Benavides, who is 2:44 behind the leader. A priori it shouldn’t be a problem for Price in the remaining three stages, but between the two of them they can pincer Howes, who will have to sweat until the last kilometre.

The best Spaniard of the day was, once again, Lorenzo Santolino, eighth in the day, almost six minutes from the winner, but still outside the ‘top 10’ of the general classification, which is his main objective between now and Sunday.

Loeb does not loosen up

For a pilot of his experience it is not an unusual scenario, but the truth is that he has it very difficult. It is not impossible, but highly unlikely, that Sebastien Loeb will win the Dakar 2023. The Frenchman knows that cutting Nasser Al-Attiyah’s hour and a half ahead of him on the track does not even depend on himself, but he is doing what he should.

The man from Prodrive added his fourth consecutive stage victory, fifth in this edition, in an attempt to assert his quality in the event of a possible problem, failure or error by Al-Attiyah. The Qatari has been saving himself since the first week, especially after the retirements of Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz, since from then on he has enjoyed such a margin that he can allow himself a wide loss of time every day.

This Thursday, in a bland opening of the marathon stage, he left Loeb for more than six and a half minutes and was even surpassed by the Brazilian Moraes, who is the great sensation of this edition of the Dakar in which he is making his debut. With a sister Toyota to the one Al-Attiyah drives, but under the Overdrive structure and with veteran Timo Gottschalk (ex-co-driver of Sainz or Al-Attiyah himself, among others) as a navigator by his side, he is close to achieving a podium in his first raid, as long as Loeb (who is only nine minutes away) does not surpass him between now and Sunday.

As for the Spanish assets, the first rojigualda flag appears in the co-driver’s seat of the Toyota Overdrive 220 in the hands of Dani Oliveras, a former motorcycle driver who works in 2023 as a navigator for the Argentine Yacopini. They occupy the tenth position of the general.

The 2023 Dakar dies between yawns, something that will make many things reconsider for 2024. The closing of this year’s marathon will be held over only 185 kilometers, which does not invite optimism for those who want to see a final surprise. Only a mechanical problem, a mistake with the GPS or similar can turn this situation around. In cars, everything is more than doomed without these wild cards, while in motorcycles, whatever happens, everything will be decided between now and Sunday.

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