Dakar Stage 4: Loeb and Cornejo take stage wins

Stage 4 Victory has gone to Sébastien Loeb and his co-pilot Fabian Lurquin today in the Dakar Rally car class (Shown above).

The quickest time of the day has ensured they win stage 4. It is Loeb’s 24th success on the Dakar.

Following on from Mattias Ekstrom, Guillaume de Mevius, Stéphane Peterhansel and Lucas Moraes, Loeb is the fifth different winner in as many specials.

The thermometer only read five degrees C in the early morning on leaving the tents at the bivouac in Al Salamiya to head towards the city of Al Hofuf, next to one of the country’s biggest oases, home to three million date palms. In between the two, the total distance to be covered measured almost 700 km, but the riders, drivers and crews “only” did battle over 299 of them in Dakar Rally Stage 4.

High-speed driving is also the specialty of Sébastien Loeb, who today orchestrated his reappearance at the top of the stage rankings

Nacho Cornejo wins in Dakar Bike Class

Nacho Cornejo has literally flown through this special to Al-Hofuf. The Chilean has achieved the best time with a lead sufficient enough to avoid being leapfrogged by Kevin Benavides due to his 3’42’’ in bonuses. It is the Chilean’s eighth stage victory on the Dakar and the second on this edition (subject to any penalties that may be handed out, as was the case on the previous two days).

It is very difficult to cover as much distance in Saudi Arabia without encountering any dunes, but the day’s portions were negligible. Top speeds of approximately 150 kmph were often reached on this quick special, on which Nacho Cornejo was able to show that he is not just an excellent navigator, to such an extent that he took the lead in the Dakar bike category general rankings.

Dakar Bike Category Overall Standings