Sebastien Loeb finally lost his chances of winning the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on the penultimate day. The Frenchman damaged a wheel suspension on his Prodrive car on the eleventh section with 420 kilometers and lost more than an hour of time. This means that Spaniard Carlos Sainz in the Audi, who finished third on the stage on Thursday, is on the verge of his fourth overall victory; it would be the first for the German brand in the Dakar.
The 61-year-old Sainz leads by over an hour and a half before the final stage on Friday. The new runner-up is the Belgian Guillaume de Mevius (Toyota). Loeb slipped back to third place. On the last day, a loop has to be driven around Yanbu, which only covers 175 classified kilometers.
Brabec is clearly ahead when it comes to motorcycles
In the motorcycle category, Honda rider Ricky Brabec goes into the final day as the clear overall leader. The American’s lead over Hero rider Ross Branch from Botswana, who won just ahead of him on Thursday, is just over ten minutes. The Frenchman Adrien van Beveren (Honda) is third, almost 15 minutes behind.
KTM factory riders Kevin Benavides and Toby Price are in fifth and sixth place, more than 40 minutes behind the leaders. The Tyrolean Dakar newcomer Tobias Ebster starts the final on his KTM in 20th place and leader of the “Malle Moto” classification.
