The 48-hour stage of the Dakar is concluded, with Carlos Sainz becoming the new leader of the overall classification. Sébastien Loeb was the stage winner, while Nasser Al-Attiyah saw his chances of achieving a good result compromised.
In a sixth stage divided into two days, Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme/Prodrive Hunter) set the pace, surpassing Sainz (Audi) by 2m01s at the end of over 600km of timed sections. Mattias Ekström (Audi) finished third, 10m55s behind, followed by Lucas Moraes (Toyota).
In the combined classification of all car categories, Eryk Goczal (Energylandia Rally Team/Taurus) finished fifth, while considering only the T1U category, the top five was closed by Guerlain Chicherit (Overdrive Racing/Toyota). Al-Attiyah (Nasser Racing) is out of contention for the top positions. The driver suffered damage to the steering arm of his Prodrive Hunter and finished in 29th place, over two and a half hours behind the top finishers of the stage.
In the overall classification, Sainz is the leader, with a considerable advantage of 20m21s over Ekström. Loeb is third before the rest day, followed by Moraes and Guillaume de Mevius (Overdrive Racing/Toyota) – both already over an hour behind the front. Al-Attiyah is now 16th, 2h40m54s behind Sainz.
Top ten of Stage 6:
Top ten of the overall classification:
