Loeb's hopes of Dakar glory in ruins / Photo: PATRICK HERTZOG - AFP
Loeb's hopes of Dakar glory in ruins
French rally great Sebastien Loeb's hopes of a first ever Dakar Rally success all but evaporated on Thursday after he was stranded in the desert for more than an hour due to a mechanical problem.
Loeb's misery was a stark contrast to compatriot Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit.
His rich vein of form in the final week carried on as he recorded his second successive stage win in his Toyota on what is the penultimate day of the rally.
The 49-year-old Loeb, a record nine time world rally champion, trailed overall leader Carlos Sainz by just over 13 minutes at the start of the stage.
However, his Prodrive Hunter car came to a halt 132 kilometres into the 480km special from Al-Ula to Yanbu regarded as the key stage of the second week of the gruelling rally.
By the time he resumed -- a car from the Chinese team YunXiang and partner of Prodrive had stopped to help the disconsolate Frenchman -- the runner-up in the past two editions was over an hour adrift of Sainz.
Loeb drops to third place overall, now 1 hour 35 minutes behind Sainz.
The Spaniard finished his race 5min 35sec behind Chicherit and, barring a major mechanical problem on the 12th stage, is 24 hours away from his fourth Dakar title, after 2010, 2018 and 2020.
Belgian Guillaume de Mevius (Toyota) finished third in the stage at 5min 32sec and moved up to second overall, 1hr 27min behind Sainz. Chicherit moves to fourth.
The competitors remain on the shores of the Red Sea on Friday for a 175km loop around Yanbu, in the 12th and final stage of this year's race.
In the motorbike category, Ross Branch kept alive his slim hopes of winning the crown as the Botswanan posted his second stage win of this year's contest.
The 37-year-old South Africa-born Hero rider took 32 seconds off overall leader Ricky Brabec's lead but the American still holds a 10min 22sec lead going into Friday's final stage -- 175km ride around Yanbu.
B.Jamieson--EWJ
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