DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia – Sebastien Loeb is widely regarded as the greatest rally driver ever. Nine-time world champion.
In a rally raid in which the Dakar is the ultimate test, Loeb bows out for the fifth time on Sunday to Nasser Al-Attiyah, the world rally raid champion and winner of the Dakar.
Before the last race in Saudi Arabia, Loeb wished Al-Attiyah could read the terrain, sense the problem areas and gain an enviable amount of desert experience.
“To beat them, you need a perfect race,” Loeb said.
No one could avoid trouble other than Al-Attiyah and French co-driver Mathieu Baumel in his Toyota. They won four together in nine Dakars, finished second four times, and gave up once.
Al-Attiyah has led the Dakar for the last 13 of the 15 days, beating Loeb by 80 minutes – the biggest margin in 20 years – but it was not comfortable for the Qatari until his three biggest pursuers were virtually eliminated in sixth section.
Stephane Peterhansel, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Carlos Sainz, the only drivers to crash within 55 minutes of Al-Attiyah, within kilometers. Peterhansel’s co-driver Edouard Boulanger was taken to hospital with a back injury. Al Rajhi and Sainz were stuck for hours.
Sainz held on until the second crash on stage nine, overshadowed by a spectator who succumbed to his injuries after being hit by a truck racer. It was the fifth death at the Dakar since it moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
Local driver Al Rajhi, third last year, finished 37th, 37 hours behind Al-Attiyah.
Al-Attiyah’s lead grew to over an hour and he no longer had to push hard.
“We didn’t have to attack like crazy,” he said. “We were able to get through the second week and get a win, that’s what really matters. I am very happy to have won five times and Mathieu four times. . . sorry Mathieu!”
His fifth Dakar title moved him ahead of Ari Vatanen and second only to Peterhansel, the greatest Dakar champion with 14 victories, eight times in the premier car category.
Loeb had to win six consecutive stages, a record for an elite car driver, and seven in total, the most since Sainz in 2011. Loeb finished second for the second year in a row and the third time.
Brazil’s Lucas Moraes finished an impressive third, the first newcomer to the podium in 35 years. He was 98 minutes behind, but nearly an hour ahead of fourth place.
Argentine rider Kevin Benavides claimed his second motorcycle championship, beating KTM team-mate Toby Price by 43 seconds after covering more than 4,000 kilometers in the closest finish in rally history.
They were the last riders to start the 136-kilometer stage 14 on the coast east of Al-Hofuf.
“My head was blank this morning, except for every kilometer of the stage, from 0 to 136,” said Benvavides. “It’s incredible to get the win at the end of this absolutely crazy Dakar, and by such a small margin. I’m the first to win with two different bike brands, and that’s something I’m very proud of.”
Benavides, 12 seconds behind Price overall, erased that by the first checkpoint. He led by nearly two minutes at the halfway point as the two-time Australian champion missed two checkpoints and had to turn around. Price came back but Benavides won the stage by 55 seconds.
He won in 2021 and raced last year until his engine blew up on stage 10. Like Al-Attiyah, he was in the top three from stage three, but made his biggest push on Saturday after stopping to help his injured team-mate Matthias Walkner. the 2018 champion.
American Skyler Howes, who led the class for six days, finished five minutes behind his first podium finish in third place.
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