Dakar 2024 – Stage 7: Once again a winner, Sébastien Loeb closes in on the overall lead
Having achieved a perfect stage in his Prodrive Hunter, the nine-time rally world champion and his co-pilot Fabian Lurquin are now only about twenty minutes behind Carlos Sainz in the overall standings.
The Dakar 2024 began its second week of racing today. After the rest day in Riyadh, 873 kilometers (483 of which were special stages) awaited the competitors from the Saudi capital to Al Duwadimi. On paper, this stage was considered one of the most challenging in terms of navigation. However, it was for another reason that a new favorite saw their title hopes vanish.
From the 47th kilometer, the Swede Mattias Ekström tore off the left rear axle of his RS Q e-tron. Rescued by the duo Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger, the Audi number 207 finally waited for its assistance truck to make the repair. The German team preferred to keep Peterhansel in support of Carlos Sainz in case anything happened to the Spaniard.
Because ahead, there was no time to waste. On a cloud, Sébastien Loeb and Edouard Boulanger gained back ten minutes on the Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz duo. By winning their third stage on this Dakar, the Alsatian and his Belgian co-driver are now less than twenty minutes behind the Spaniards in the overall standings, and take advantage of Ekström’s setbacks to move into second place.
The Prodrive Hunter from the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team seems to be launching an assault on the only Audi that can still win the victory next Friday in Yanbu, on the shores of the Red Sea. A two-way battle is therefore emerging between former Citroën teammates in the WRC. Unless Lucas Moraes, currently one hour behind Sainz this evening, takes advantage of the two champions’ failures in front of him.
Ranking Stage 7
| Concurrents | Team | Times / Gaps | |
| 1 | Loeb / Lurquin | Bahraïn Raid Xtreme | 04:56:39 |
| 2 | Moras / Monleon | Toyota Gazoo Racing | +00:07:06 |
| 3 | Al-Attiyah / Baumel | Nasser Racing | +00:09:47 |
| 4 | Sainz / Cruz | Team Audi Sport | +00:10:31 |
| 5 | Chicherit / Winocq | Overdrive Racing | +00:10:37 |
General ranking
| Concurrents | Team | Times / Gaps | |
| 1 | Sainz / Cruz | Team Audi Sport | 30:06:42 |
| 2 | Loeb / Lurquin | Bahrain Raid Xtreme | +00:19:00 |
| 3 | Moraes / Monleon | Toyota Gazoo Racing | +01:00:35 |
| 4 | De Mevius / Panseri | Overdrive Racing | +01:30:50 |
| 5 | De Villiers / Murphy | Toyota Gazoo Racing | +01:40:07 |
