Carlos Sainz said before starting his fifteenth participation in the Dakar Rally that it was the veterans who set the benchmark in the race. “It's the law of sport,” explained the 61-year-old rider from Madrid, the oldest winner in the event's history. Even in 2024, this law remains unchanged, although a few years have passed, some applicants come and many others go. The majority of participants could not even smell the mere chance of winning the toughest rally in the world and together with Spaniards Nasser Al-Attiyah (53) and Stéphane Peterhansel (58) they have won 13 of the last 14 editions of the test.
“In the end, Stéphane, Seb, Nasser, Nani and I fought every year to see who would win the Dakar,” recalled the winner of three Touaregs. Sebastien Loeb, the youngest of the illustrious group that Sainz highlights, won the fourth stage between Al Salamiya and Al Hofuf, a 299-kilometer special stage, with a time of 2:36:02 minutes. The 49-year-old French driver, a legend of the World Rally Championship (WRC) with his nine titles, is aiming for his first victory in the queen of rally raid events. In the overall standings, only Roma (Ford) is behind in this particular battle, returning after recovering from cancer and with a car in the development phase. It was the Catalan, the only one who, in 2014, was able to break the dominance of Sainz, Al-Attiyah and Peteranshel over the last decade.
The overall standings continue to be led by local idol and Toyota front-runner Yazeed Al Rajhi. Sainz is second, 4 minutes and 19 seconds ahead of the other big favorites. Qatari Al-Attiyah, winner of the last two Dakars, continues to close the gap on the Spaniard in the overall standings by finishing third on the day. He is now 11:03 minutes behind the leader and almost seven minutes behind the Audi leader. Peterhansel, the great myth of the event and the one who has achieved the most victories in both cars and motorcycles, is currently last in this particular classification of the Totems, 26:56 minutes behind the Saudi. Less than 20 minutes separate the contenders for the final victory, and in such a fluid event, that gap is practically a formality. Now, with the dunes and the novelty of 48-hour unsupported qualifying coming, the favorites are keeping their swords sharp.
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Change of leadership in motorcycles
Chilean Nacho Cornejo took advantage of his good starting position and the presence of three of his Honda teammates to win the stage and take the lead from Botswana's Ross Branch (Hero). The 29-year-old driver, who was born in Iquique, used the wheel of the previous leader, who started in fifth place just ahead of him, to solve a complex test related to navigation and pace.
“I rode with Ross for a while, but I don't know if he dug in the last dune or fell because he was a little late. Now I’ll see if he’s okay,” explained the new leader at the finish. Branch did indeed have a busy stage: he tripped over a rock at kilometer 40 and then crashed after stepping on camel grass in the dunes with 20 kilometers to go. He is now second, 1:15 minutes behind his Honda rival. The credentials of Hero, the Indian brand with which Joan Barreda decided to sign up for another Dakar at the age of 40, have not been damaged. The man from Castellón, who crossed the finish line in seventh place, is twelfth overall, 42:34 minutes behind the leader.
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