Dakar Stage 4: Loeb beats Peterhansel to Stage 4 win

The fourth stage of the Dakar took place at altitude, with a profile that never dropped below 800 meters and sometimes climbed up to 1,300 meters.

The cool weather accompanied the riders, drivers and crews on this 425 km long loop to the west of Ha’il.

The previous day’s rain significantly changed the nature of the terrain, but not the beauty of the canyons and plateaux visited by the route of the day’s special.

Cars

Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Sébastien Loeb finally put an end to his run of bad luck on the Dakar Rally by taking his first stage victory of the 2023 edition on the Ha’il loop.

Having lost more than an hour with a series of punctures on stage two, and a subsequent trackrod arm failure on Tuesday, Loeb’s chances of a first victory on the rally-raid were all but extinguished before the start of stage four.

But a trouble-free run through the 425km test following a close battle with Audi’s Stéphane Peterhansel enabled the nine-time World Rally champion to emerge as the quickest driver at the finish by 13 seconds.

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel continue to lead for Toyota Gazoo Racing, having extended their advantage over second-placed Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz, who dropped two minutes to the defending Dakar winners.

But while Prodrive celebrated its second stage victory in as many days following Guerlain Chicherit’s fastest time on Tuesday, it lost one of its factory Hunters as Orlando Terranova was forced out of the stage after 20km through injury.

A team statement said: “Orly returned to the bivouac with a painful back. He had a big landing yesterday and was OK, but today after just 10kms, his back was hurting again so he decided to return to Ha’il.”

Terranova, who had been running in the top five overall, has undergone an X-ray and will consult a physio before making a decision on whether to continue from stage five.

Bikes

Joan Barreda Bort claimed victory in the bikes categories.

Dakar legend Joan Barreda Bort claimed his 29th stage win at the Dakar Rally today. The Spanish rider, nicknamed Bang Bang lived up to his nickname as he blasted his way across the final section of the special stage to claim victory with a time of 4 hours, 28 minutes and 18 seconds.

Bort beat Monster Energy Honda’s Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla to the top spot by just 16 seconds. Husqvarna’s American rider Skyler Howes claimed the third spot with a time of 4 hours, 29 minutes and 23 seconds taking advantage of 3 minutes and 35 seconds worth of bonuses he earned while riding across the sands of Saudi Arabia today.

However, it was not a good day for Indian supporters as the only Indian rider in the race crashed out of the Dakar today as did Hero’s Joaquim Rodrigues.

Cars Stage 4

Bikes Stage 4

Cars Overall

Bikes Overall