Category: Dirt

Carlos Sainz added another jewel to his crown by claiming his fourth  Dakar Rally victory, closing out his decisive triumph on Friday’s brief 175km/109-mile loop course around Yanbu to the finish line. Enjoying a huge lead going into the final stage, the Spaniard — who also has two World Rally championships to his name — was able to play it cautiously, running 17th, but the Audi Sport driver still wound up a decisive 1h20m ahead of runner-up Guillaume de Mevius (Overdrive Toyota) for the full 7,891km/4903-mile trek.

“When you work hard and you believe in yourself, when you have a good team and good people around you, then the work will always pay off,” said Sainz after making Audi a winner in the manufacturer’s third Dakar with its unique RS Q e-tron, which features two electric motors from Audi’s Formula E program, one on each axle, along with a 2.0I4 gasoline engine. “This car is so special, it’s so difficult to manage, it has been so difficult to make it work.

At 61, Sainz fourth victory makes him the oldest winner in the marathon event’s history, beating his own record. All four of his wins (2010, 2018 and 2020) have come with different manufacturers, another point he relishes.

“To finish and to win this race, well, I’m so happy for Audi,” he said. I think the energy comes from the passion I have. It’s obviously, believing in yourself, believing that you can still drive and a lot of work behind the scenes as well,” said Sainz. “To be here at my age and to stay at the level, you need to work a lot beforehand. It doesn’t just come like that.”

Although the Spaniard led from the sixth stage on through today’s final 12th stage, he never actually took a stage win, taking a strategic approach that avoided many of the mechanical failures and navigational errors that befell his rivals, like the suspension failure that knocked out his most serious pursuer, Sébastien Loeb, on Thursday.

“I think yesterday was an important day for the win, but it’s been important from the beginning,” Sainz noted. “There were a lot of favorites but like always in the Dakar, somebody is stopped by problems and from maybe 10th you can go to ninth, eighth, seventh and so on. I think we drove at a really good pace. We had a good strategy and good support from the team.”

A similar story played out in the motorcycle class with a veteran taking a steady approach, but America’s Ricky Brabec seemingly got stronger as the event went on. The Monster Energy Honda rider closed out his second Dakar win by 10m53s over Ross Branch (Hero Motorsports), admitting he’d felt the pressure on him more this time around than in his decisive first win on the event in 2020.

“It wasn’t easy. The course was really tough, the competition was tough,” said Brabec. “Ross and my own team kept me on my toes — but not just me, I think we were keeping everyone on each other’s toes. It was definitely a fight to the end for everyone.

“I’m really happy we’re all here and all safe and we can go home. Overall, it was a good rally. This time was a little bit different. I feel like this one was more earned. This time was a lot tougher. In 2020, we had a big gap from the get-go. Here, I think me and Ross spent three days with a couple of seconds difference. It was a tight race for all of us. I think between first and third there are 11 minutes or something.

Brabec’s only stage win on Wednesday’s Stage 10 gave him his first multi-minute lead, but he said that didn’t lessen the pressure.

“I had two good days, two opportunities to make a good push, but also stage 11 was a scare factor for me because I knew Ross was starting behind me, 18 minutes behind, and if he caught me it would be over,” Brabec said. “Stage 11 was hard for me, but I stayed focused, got to the finishing line and didn’t lose too much time. I’m happy for all of us — we did an excellent job all of the two weeks. I think No. 9 will be my lucky number from now on.”

Another American had looked set for victory in the Challenger class, but late drama struck on the final stage. Mitch Guthrie Jr. started today’s brief run with a comfortable 25-minute lead, but the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team driver hit transmission trouble 138km in and had to wait for assistance. That allowed teammate Cristina Gutiérrez to power past. The Spaniard is the first woman to win a Dakar title since Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2001.

“I always tried to fight until the finish. We didn’t know what had happened until the last kilometers,” said Gutiérrez, who wound up 35m ahead of Guthrie Jr. “One of my values is to never give up and always in the race I never gave up. I pushed myself until the finish. It’s the best finish possible and I want to say thanks to Red Bull, to Arnaud and to all the team for giving us this beautiful car.”

Other class winners included Xavier de Soultrait in SSV, Alexandre Giroud in quads, and Martin Macík, who captured the truck category behind the wheel of his Iveco in his 12th run on the world’s toughest marathon.

The fight for overall victory in the Dakar Rally lost some steam on Thursday’s 11th stage when Sébastien Loeb suffered a suspension failure — which has proven a weak point on the Prodrive Hunter this year, multiple similar failures having also knocked the Frenchman’s teammate, reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, out of contention. Loeb lost more than an hour to race leader Carlos Sainz Sr. (pictured above) after being halted by a broken A-arm on the 420km/261-mile stage from Al-Alula to Yanbu.

Audi Sport driver Sainz finished third today behind the Overdrive Toyotas of Guerlain Chicherit — who scored his second straight stage win — and Guillaume de Mevius, and now enjoys a 1h27m lead over de Mevius and 1h35s over Loeb, who slipped to third overall ahead of tomorrow’s short sprint to the finish.

“After we caught Seb, we drove carefully. It was very difficult with so many stones,” said Sainz. “Sometimes you just looked five meters in front of the car and drove slowly and see if you are lucky. Sometimes it is worth driving slowly, but sometimes even driving slowly you can get a puncture. There are still 170km to go. I know very well on this rally especially you need to cross the finish line and this is what we are going to try and do.”

In the motorcycle ranks, Ricky Brabec continues to lead into the final day but his margin over pursuer Ross Branch narrowed after the Hero Motorsports rider won today’s stage to make up 32s on the American, who finished second today on his Monster Energy Honda. Brabec now leads Branch by 10m22s and Honda teammate Adrien Van Beveren by 14m31s.

“It’s close. I opened the whole day by myself and I was expecting my teammate Nacho [Cornejo] to catch me, but unfortunately he had a little issue. Then I was waiting for my teammate Adrien, for him to grab some bonus time,” said Brabec. “I have a feeling that it’s going to be me, Adrien and Ross as the top three tomorrow.”

Like Sainz, though, Brabec is a Dakar veteran and knows how easily and in so many ways the biggest of leads can evaporate.

“There are so many bushes out there; these bushes have thorns that are very long, like cats’ claws,” Brabec said. “I got one on the first day and I had to see the medical team and get it cut out of my arm. The thorns reach out and grab you so easily. To not have a ripped jersey at the end of the Dakar is difficult — you can’t miss the bushes.”

Van Beveren would have been closer but for an even more classic Dakar delay during his run to third today, 3m17s back.

“There was a herd of a dozen dromedaries right in the middle of the tracks. It’s not unusual to see them, they are desert animals after all,” related the Frenchman. “It was one of the very quick main tracks, just after refueling. When I approached them they moved away to the left, but just as I was accelerating to pass them to the right, one of them had a change of mind and went back to the right-hand side of the tracks. It was too late and I was going too fast. I tried to avoid it but there was a big rock at the edge of the track and I hit it. I don’t know if I hit the dromedary, but there weren’t any there when I picked myself back up. I couldn’t avoid it and went over the handlebars at speed. I thought to myself, ‘This is going to hurt…’

“I think I landed on my head and cartwheeled over. I was groggy afterwards, but the airbag did a good job protecting me. I picked up my bike, which was a bit damaged, but I managed to finish.”

 

The 10th stage of the Dakar Rally was a little different, consisting of a loop course carved out near Al-Alula, starting and finishing at the bivouac where everyone had gathered nearly two weeks ago. The timed sector stretched for 371km/231 miles on terrain blending sandy and rocky sections, with nuances to decipher in the road book. The showdown among the leading competitors was shaped by tricky navigation in the motorcycle race and the risk of punctures in the cars. In the former, America’s Ricky Brabec (pictured above) took a step closer to a second title, while Guerlain Chicherit weaved through the pack with his Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux much faster than all his rivals to win the stage…despite slowing down too much, he thought.

“I thought it was going to be really hard for us because we started with a puncture [at] the beginning. After that, I slowed down,” related Chicherit, who now ranks fifth overall. “The dust made it really difficult, especially because our Push button was not working well. We finished the last 150km behind other cars. Impossible to pass them or too risky. I’m a bit surprised we won today, but it’s always good to take the win.”

Neither of the top overall contenders in the Ultimate class — Carlos Sainz Sr. and Sébastien Loeb — figured among the front-runners but it still was a good day for the Frenchman, as he pared more than seven minutes out of his fellow world rallying legend’s race lead. Sainz’s Audi RS Q e-tron now leads Loeb’s Prodrive Hunter by 13m22s with two stages to go.

If Loeb does overhaul Sainz, he’ll have to do it on his own, though, because Prodrive teammate Nasser Al Attiyah has dropped out altogether after another series of mechanical issues on his Hunter. That means he won’t be able to support Loeb in the final stages, especially in the event of punctures, the way Sainz’s Audi teammates have.

After playing it steady to this point, America’s Ricky Brabec took it up a notch today to claim his first stage win and pad his overall lead in motorcycles. The Monster Energy Honda rider overhauled Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch to lead a Honda 1-2-3 on the stage and build his advantage over the Botswanan to 10m54s.

“At the refuelling, Ross was putting on a show for us. We don’t know what happened. At the refuelling, he kinda rode away a bit early. I don’t know what was going on, whether he was trying to sneak or what he was trying to do. Me and Adrien [Van Beveren] did a good job and I’m happy to be at the finish of stage 10,” said Brabec.

“Two days left — the team’s looking really strong and I’m 100% right now. Tomorrow, in the big stage, the rockies, I’m going to use some energy and try and secure something a little bit more so stage 12 is a bit more relaxing for me and I can ride wheels all the way to the finish line.”

It was a big day for Brabec’s fellow Californian Sara Price, too. The SSV driver had come tantalizingly close to a stage victory several times and today, the South Racing Can-Am driver squeaked home with just two seconds to spare over Jérôme de Sadeleer to claim her first stage win. She joins Cristina Gutiérrez (T3) and Jutta Kleinschmidt (cars) in the select club of women who have prevailed in Dakar stages.

”It was absolutely amazing to be able to win this stage, it means a whole lot,” said Price. “Not only were we the first American woman to win a stage but we were the third woman ever to be able to achieve that. So this is big in the history making and I hope to make America proud!”

Price is now second overall in the SSV class, 20m26s back of Xavier de Soultrait.

After Mattias Ekström lost hope of a strong finish in this year’s Dakar Rally when his Audi RS Q e-tron had a suspension failure on Sunday’s seventh stage, the Swedish driver might have given up. Instead, he used disappointment as motivation and took his first stage win since the event prologue on Monda’s 458km/285-mile leg from Al-Duwadimi to Ha’il.

“We had a good stage — I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end,” Ekström said, although the pain of Sunday’s setback was clearly still foremost in his thoughts.

“Yesterday, on the left-rear suspension, there were three nuts that were loose and when they fell off, it broke and then we had to wait for assistance to change the parts,” he explained. “For sure, it’s devastating for Emil [Bergqvist, co-driver], myself and for the entire team, when you have the chance to go for a Dakar podium. For me it’s the toughest and the greatest you can achieve in motorsports. I will be disappointed for a long time for what happened yesterday, but it’s already history now and we have to take all the experience we can from this rally.”

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Audi teammate Stéphane Peterhansel, who has had a frustrating Dakar himself with multiple setbacks, followed Ekström home in second on the stage, 2m45s behind, while Toyota Overdrive Racing’s Guerlain Chicherit took third. A steady fourth, though, was Carlos Sainz Sr. The Spanish rally ace, who is Audi’s remaining hope for victory, padded his overall lead to 24m47s over Sébastien Loeb. The Frenchman, winner of the last two stages with his Prodrive Hunter, was a frustrated 10th on Monday, losing 10 minutes to a navigational error. Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux) is third overall, but 1h05m behind.

Still, Sainz was in no mood to celebrate, as the three-time Dakar champion knows how quickly fortunes can change in the marathon event.

“There’s still a long way for me and there are long stages to come. You can see how easy it is to lose five or 10 minutes on this race. It’s so easy, due to navigation, punctures, everything,” he noted. “It’s very stressful. But it was all good today.”

Reigning Dakar motorcycle champion Kevin Benavides won his second stage of this year’s event, although he remains fifth overall, 20m behind leader Ricky Brabec.

“Today was two completely different specials,” related Benavides, who rides for KTM Factory Racing. “The first part was sandy with dunes, then we had the transfer in the middle and then we switched terrain and entered here in this kind of rocky terrain and mountains. I feel good, I enjoyed my ride today. The last part was fun. I think I did some good work, so we need to continue pushing.”

It was an OK day for American rider Brabec, who took seventh on the stage with his Monster Energy Honda but gained a slight advantage on his nearest pursuer Ross Branch (Hero Motorsports), who is now 42s behind. Brabec’s teammate Nacho Cornejo remains third, 4m21s back.

His seventh place today means Brabec will not set off tomorrow in the leading group, which could be a good strategy.

“It’s been a tough day because there’s a little bit of games going on out there,” he said. “Tomorrow is supposed to be tricky, so people are kind of slowing down, but we’ll see what happens. We’ve got four days left to go and hopefully all is good. We’ll have some fun and stay focused. The last day with the new Dakar, for sure it’s going to be crucial.”

 

Sébastien Loeb continued to set the pace in Sunday’s seventh stage that launched the second half of the 46th Dakar Rally, following Saturday’s rest day. The French rally legend completed the 483km/300-mile leg from Riyadh to Al-Duwadimi 7m06s clear of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux driven by Lucas Moraes, and gained a full 10 minutes on overall leader Carlos Sainz Sr., who was fourth today with his Audi RS Q e-tron after being delayed by a puncture and some navigational miscues.

The Audi team suffered an even bigger blow with the elimination of Mattias Ekström from contention for victory. The Swede, second overall to Sainz at the start of the stage, suffered a suspension failure 47km in. Teammate Stéphane Peterhansel stopped to help him effect repairs, but he was forced to stop several times more once he finally did get going and Audi’s hopes now appear to rest on Sainz.

“We had a good stage. No big mistakes,” said Loeb. “The navigation was really tricky. We were the first car, so… We had to make the line, but sometimes it’s better, because we were really concentrated on our job and I was pushing hard, trying to be very conscientious in the tricky navigation parts, and we did it very well.

“Ekström being eliminated was great, but there’s another one left. Gaining time on Carlos Sainz is good news.” Now second overall, Loeb is 19m behind the Spaniard.

Loeb’s Prodrive teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah was third on the stage, 9m47s back, although the Qatari is also out of the running for the overall victory after his problematic “48th Chrono” double stage.

America’s Ricky Brabec held onto his overall lead in the motorcycle category — just — by placing fourth on Sunday. Brabec’s Monster Energy Honda teammate Nacho Cornejo led the way by 3m12s from Husqvarna rider Luciano Benavides, while Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch finished third and is just 1s behind Brabec after seven stages! Cornejo is third overall, 6m48s behind.

“The day after a rest day is never easy. We started off this morning third, so it was a bit tricky,” Brabec said. “All the guys I wanted to beat were behind me, so it’s been a tough day. I haven’t had a rear brake since like kilometer 40 or 50, so it’s been a slow day for me but, overall, I’m happy with how the day went. Not probably the result that I wanted to see, but I’m still 100% ready to go, so the next five days is going to be good.”