DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Sebastien Loeb is widely considered the greatest rally driver. World champion nine times.
On a rally raid, in which the Dakar is the greatest test, Loeb bows to Nasser Al-Attiyah, the world rally raid champion and Dakar winner for a fifth time on Sunday.
Before the latest race in Saudi Arabia, Loeb wished he had Al-Attiyah’s ability to read terrain, sense problem areas and enviable amount of desert experience.
Nobody else could avoid trouble like Al-Attiyah and French co-driver Mathieu Baumel in their Toyota. In nine Dakars together, they have won four, been runner-up four times, and abandoned once.
Al-Attiyah led the Dakar for the last 13 of its 15 days and won by 80 minutes from Loeb, but it wasn’t comfortable for the Qatari until his three biggest chasers were effectively knocked out on stage six.
Stephane Peterhansel, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Carlos Sainz, the only drivers within 55 minutes of Al-Attiyah, crashed within kilometers of each other. Peterhansel’s co-pilot Edouard Boulanger was taken to hospital with a back injury. Al Rajhi and Sainz were stuck for hours.
Sainz hung on until a second crash on stage nine, which was overshadowed by a spectator dying from injuries after being hit by a truck competitor. It was the fifth death on the Dakar since its move to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
Local driver Al Rajhi, third last year, finished 37th and 37 hours behind Al-Attiyah.
Al-Attiyah’s lead ballooned to more than an hour and he no longer had to push hard.