Sébastien Loeb achieved his first victory in the 2024 edition of the Dakar on Tuesday. To do so, he surpassed Yazeed Al Rajhi, although the Saudi Arabian driver continues to lead the overall standings in his home race. Portuguese navigator Paulo Fiúza helped Vaidotas Zala to an eighth-place finish.
After yesterday’s punctures, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Nasser Racing/Prodrive Hunter) was the fastest for much of the stage. However, he lost pace towards the end. Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme/Prodrive Hunter) was efficient and completed the 229km timed section in 2h36m02s to take the win. He surpassed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing/Toyota) by 1m08s. Al-Attiyah dropped to third, being 1m22s slower than Loeb.
The Audis of Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel completed the top five, ahead of Mathieu Serradori’s Century. Accompanied by Fiúza, Zala (X-Raid Arijus Team/MINI) had another solid performance to return to the top ten with the eighth-best time.
In the overall standings, Al Rajhi remains in the lead and even strengthened his position, now being 4m29s ahead of Sainz. Al-Attiyah is third and Lucas Moraes (Toyota) is fourth – who, after winning yesterday, opened the way today and lost some time. Mattias Ekström (Audi) is eighth and, with the stage victory, Loeb rose to sixth. Zala and Fiúza moved up to ninth.
Top ten of Stage 4:
Top ten overall:
