Nine-time WRC Champion, Sébastien Loeb reclaimed second place in the Dakar 2022 overall standings after winning Dakar Rally Stage 7.
Having won the seventh stage, the first one following the Saturday rest day, Loeb is once again Nasser Al-Attiyah’s biggest rival for this second week of the offroad endurance competition.
Loeb re-established himself as Al-closest Attiyah’s opponent with a dominant stage victory when the rally began with a 402km test from Riyadh to Al Dawadimi, after dropping to third in the general classification after two navigational blunders on Friday.
In spite of problems with his Hunter, the nine-time World Rally Champion put together a strong Stage 6 despite being in the red.
“We had a fantastic special until 50km before the line, when we started having engine problems,” Loeb said in an interview after the race.
“It just sputtered on, off and on again… We lost a lot of time near the end, but we still came out on top, so no complaints from my side.”
“We’re not in a position of strength, there are no questions to be answered. There is no strategy… We’ll just do our job and see how it plays out,” he concluded.
At the start of the stage, the Prodrive/Bahrain team driver was embroiled in a close battle with Audi’s Carlos Sainz, as he was behind his old WRC teammate by just four seconds at 121 kilometers in the race. However, at the following checkpoint, Loeb was more than three minutes ahead, and he went on to win his 16th Dakar stage by a margin of 5m26s.
Al-Attiyah leapfrogged Sainz to finish second in the Stage 7 standings. The Qatari driver was never in contention for the win, falling over seven minutes behind Loeb at one point, but recouped part of the time to finish second.
Audi was strong with its RS Q e-tron racer with Stephane Peterhansel finishing fourth, 6m40s off the pace of Sebastien Loeb, and Mattias Ekstrom finishing eighth. Three Overdrive Toyota entries, including one driven by Yazeed Al-Rajhi, separated the Audi pair. In the second Prodrive car, Nani Roma had a ninth-place finish and Vladimir Vasilyev in his own BMW X5 rounded out the top 10.
With five stages remaining, Loeb has cut Al Attiyah’s lead to 44m59s in the general classification, with Al Rajhi currently the only other driver ranging within an hour of the three-time Dakar champion. Lucio Alvarez, Al Rajhi’s teammate, sits fourth, while Jakub Przygonski is ranked fifth for X-raid Mini.
Audi’s best rival, Ekstrom, has moved up to 12th in the preliminary position, while Sainz has moved up to 18th.
Results Stage 7 Dakar Rally 2022
| Position | Dorsal | Pilot | Team | Weather | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 211 | (FRA) SEBASTIEN LOEB (BEL) FABIAN LURQUIN | BAHRAIN RAID XTREME | 03H 09′ 32” | |
| 2 | 201 | (QAT) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH(AND) MATTHIEU BAUMEL | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 03H 14′ 58” | + 00H 05 ’26’ ‘ |
| 3 | 202 | (ESP) CARLOS SAINZ (ESP) LUCAS CRUZ | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 03H 17′ 15” | + 00H 07 ’43’ ‘ |
| 4 | 200 | (FRA) STÉPHANE PETERHANSEL (FRA) EDOUARD BOULANGER | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 03H 19′ 12” | + 00H 09 ’40’ ‘ |
| 5 | 205 | (SAU) YAZEED AL RAJHI(GBR) MICHAEL ORR | OVERDRIVE TOYOTA | 03H 19′ 35” | + 00H 10 ’03’ ‘ |
| 6 | 217 | (NLD) BERNHARD TEN BRINKE (FROM) SÉBASTIEN DELAUNAY | OVERDRIVE TOYOTA | 03H 22′ 26” | + 00H 12 ’54’ ‘ |
| 7 | 222 | (ARG) LUCIO ALVAREZ(ESP) ARMAND MONLEON | OVERDRIVE TOYOTA | 03H 23′ 09” | + 00H 13 ’37’ ‘ |
| 8 | 224 | (SWE) MATTIAS EKSTROM (SWE) EMIL BERGKVIST | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 03H 24′ 14” | + 00H 14 ’42’ ‘ |
| 9 | 204 | (ESP) NANI ROMA (ESP) ALEX HARO BRAVO | BAHRAIN RAID XTREME | 03H 25′ 22” | + 00H 15 ’50’ ‘ |
| 10 | 208 | (RAF) VLADIMIR VASILYEV (LVA) OLEG UPERENKO | GARDEN TEAM | 03H 27′ 37” | + 00H 18 ’05’ ‘ |
| 11 | 221 | (ARG) ORLANDO TERRANOVA (ESP) DANIEL OLIVERAS CARRERAS | BAHRAIN RAID XTREME | 03H 27′ 53” | + 00H 18 ’21’ ‘ |
| 12 | 233 | (ZAF) SHAMEER VARIAWA (ZAF) DANIE STASSEN | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 03H 28′ 08” | + 00H 18 ’36’ ‘ |
| 13 | 230 | (ZAF) BRIAN BARAGWANATH(ZAF) LEONARD CREMER | CENTURY RACING | 03H 28′ 12” | + 00H 18 ’40’ ‘ |
| 14 | 203 | (POL) JAKUB PRZYGONSKI (DEU) TIMO GOTTSCHALK | X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | 03H 28′ 37” | + 00H 19 ’05’ ‘ |
| 15 | 209 | (CZE) MARTIN PROKOP (CZE) VIKTOR CHYTKA | BENZINA ORLEN TEAM | 03H 29′ 16” | + 00H 19 ’44’ ‘ |
| 16 | 223 | (ARG) SEBASTIAN HALPERN (ARG) BERNARDO GRAUE | X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | 03H 30′ 57” | + 00H 21 ’25’ ‘ |
| 17 | 234 | (LTU) VAIDOTAS ZALA(PRT) PAULO FIUZA | TELTONIKA RACING | 03H 32′ 32” | + 00H 23 ’00’ ‘ |
| 18 | 212 | (FRA) MATHIEU SERRADORI (FRA) LOIC MINAUDIER | SRT RACING | 03H 32′ 41” | + 00H 23 ’09’ ‘ |
| 19 | 278 | (BRA) MARCELO TIGLIA GASTALDI (BRA) CADU SACHS | CENTURY RACING | 03H 34′ 09” | + 00H 24 ’37’ ‘ |
| 20 | 235 | (FRA) MICHAEL PISANO (FRA) MAX DELFINO | MD RALLYE SPORT | 03H 34′ 34” | + 00H 25 ’02’ ‘ |
| 21 | 263 | (FRA) FRANÇOIS COUSIN (FRA) STÉPHANE COUSIN | DUNES COMPANY | 03H 37′ 20” | + 00H 27 ’48’ ‘ |
| 22 | 220 | (CHN) WEI HAN(CHN) LI MA | HANWEI MOTORSPORT TEAM | 03H 39′ 09” | + 00H 29 ’37’ ‘ |
| 23 | 214 | (FRA) CHRISTIAN LAVIEILLE (FRA) JOHNNY AUBERT | MD RALLYE SPORT | 03H 42′ 16” | + 00H 32 ’44’ ‘ |
| 24 | 229 | (FROM) RONAN CHABOT (FROM) GILLES PILLOT | OVERDRIVE TOYOTA | 03H 45′ 27” | + 00H 35 ’55’ ‘ |
| 25 | 250 | (BEL) ALEXANDRE LEROY (FRA) NICOLAS DELANGUE | SRT RACING | 03H 50′ 33” | + 00H 41 ’01’ ‘ |
