DAKAR 2024

Carlos Sainz finishes the job: he is the new leader of the Dakar and eliminates Nasser Al-Attiyah

Carlos Sainz has dealt an important blow to Dakar 2024. Or, at least, to some of his main rivals for victory. Because if yesterday his strategy was shown to be the perfect one to face the 48-hour stage, today he has finished the job with the help of some of his opponents, who have eliminated themselves.

This is the case of Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive), who has lost all his chances of victory today. The Qatari stopped at kilometer 529, just a breath away from the finish line, with a mechanical problem in his Prodrive Hunter's front suspension that they could not handle on their own. They did it with the help of assistance... and it cost them two hours and 45 minutes at the finish line.

Sainz finished the job...The final 145 kilometers of the 48h Chrono gave some breathing room to Loeb (BRX), who overcame the almost five minutes that the Matador had taken at the start and won the stage with 2:01 more about Spanish. The nine-time world champion and Mattias Ekström now emerge as the men to watch for Carlos Sainz in the fight for his fourth Dakar.

The Madrid native was satisfied at the finish line in Shubaytah after surely saving the toughest stage of this edition: "The important thing is that we have come this far, we have survived the stage. It has been complicated and physically demanding. We arrived leaders on the rest day , which is a good balance for the first week."

Sainz took it more calmly today, aware that everything he had to win he won yesterday and that today he could only lose the great work of the last few days. And furthermore, he came across Al-Attiyah's gift in the form of a breakdown...

Unbeatable balance...The rest day could not come in a better position for Sainz, with Al-Rajhi out of the race and Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah without options. The man from Madrid now has an advantage that, without being very big, can allow him to run with some net in the coming days.

Sainz leaves the Empty Quarter as the leader of the Dakar 2024 with 20:21 over Mattias Ekström (his teammate at Audi, who got stuck in a dune today and lost some time) and 29:31 over Loeb. From there, the distance is more than an hour from the rest... something that already seems almost insurmountable.

It is worth highlighting the exceptional performance of Eryk Goczal and Oriol Mena who, with a Challenger T3, have not only placed themselves among the best in the stage (they occupied an incredible fifth place in scratch), but have also slipped into the top 10 overall. .. and lead its category with authority.

General classification in cars:

Dakar 2024

1-Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (Audi) - 24h 59:32

2-Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist (Audi) at 20:21

3-Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin (BRX) at 29:31

4-Guillaume De Mevius/Xavier Panseri (Toyota) at 1h 02:47

5-Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleón (Toyota) at 1h 04:00

6-Giniel De Villiers/Dennis Murphy (Toyota) at 1h 25:16

7-Martin Prokop/Viktor Chytka (Ford) at 1h 35:04

8-Guy David Botterill/Brett Cummings (Toyota) 1h 48:31

9-Eryk Goczal/Oriol Mena/ (Taurus T3) at 1h 52:30

10-Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Qinocq (Toyota) at 1h 58:34

by: Enrique Naranjo