Dakar 2024: Loeb loses his illusions, Sainz (car) and Brabec (motorcycle) reach the goal

Sébastien Loeb lost big during the penultimate stage of the Dakar. The Frenchman, who could still dream of a final victory, suffered a mechanical breakdown which cost him his career. More than an hour. On the eve of the finish, Carlos Sainz and Ricky Brabec almost won the race.

[Mis à day January 18   3:12 p.m.] It is not yet this year that Sébastien Loeb will win the Dakar. The Frenchman, for whom this is the eighth participation in the most prestigious rally-raid, lost his illusions somewhere in the stones and flints between Al Ula and Yanbu this Thursday. Returned the day before à 13 minutes from the leader Carlos Sainz, the Alsatian had set off with the intention of riding flat out over the 480 timed kilometers of the race. ;#39;penultimate stage of this 46th edition. Unfortunately for him, his dreams were shattered at kilometer 132 when the right front triangle of his Hunter buggy broke. ;

Stop for more than an hour to repair, S Sébastien Loeb abandoned  every chance of registering his name on the rally winners list for the first time. The former undisputed king in the WRC – nine times world champion – however managed to win the title. keep his place on the podium at the last minute, overtaken by by the Belgian Gilles De Mevius but not by the Brazilian Lucas Moraes who also experienced big setbacks, but at the end of the route. The Tricolore, on the other hand, is ahead. more than an hour and a half of Carlos Sainz. The blow is hard for the Alsatian.

Second success in a row for Chicherit 

The misfortune of some making the happiness of others, Carlos Sainz has now almost won the race. The Spaniard, who passed through in front of SéSbastien Loeb when the latter was at the stop, did not however raiseéé nbsp;the foot to manage its progression. Madrilène, alreadyé triple winner of the Dakar, took advantage of his having started behind many competitors to follow in their footsteps and the power of his Audi did the rest. If it hasn't been looking for his first victory since the start on January 5, Carlos Sainz still signed   the third best time of the day, ahead of only by the Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit – winner for the second time in two days – and by Gilles De Mevius. ;now a mattress comfortable enough to calmly tackle the last 328 kilometers, including 175 of which are special, on the program for the last ;type. It is difficult to see how the experiment can be achieved. 61-year-old pilot might not win a fourth crown tomorrow, his first in Saudi Arabia. 

On the side motorcycles, the suspense also seems to be over. Ricky Brabec has once again mastered all elements on Thursday and is heading straight for a second victory on the Dakar. The American, who opened the track, ranked first. second of this penultimate stage and did not concede only about thirty seconds to the winner Ross Branch, his runner-up in the general classification. The Californian remains a little over ten minutes ahead of the Botswanan & the day before arrival, enough to see ahead before the final loop planned around Yanbu. Third in the special, Adrien Van Beveren, who lost three additional minutes, remains on the third step of the podium and has undoubtedly ;finally éawayé the threat Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who abandonedé more than 25 minutes today. 

Autos: the general classification is up to date the end of the 11th stage

1. (=) Sainz/Cruz (Audi) in 46h23'47"
2. (+2) De Mevius/Panseri (Toyota) à 1h27'06"
3. (-1) Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) à 1h35'02"
4. (+1) Chicherit/Winocq (Toyota) à 1h42'20"
5. (+2) Prokop/Chytka (Ford) à 2h17'47"
6. (+3) Botterill/Cummigs (Toyota) à 2h41'31"
7. (+1) De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota) à 2h51'09"
8. (+2) Vanagas/Sikk (Toyota) à 3h01'36"
9. (-6) Moraes/Monleon (Toyota) à 3h06'42"
10. (-4) Serradori/Minaudier (Century) à 3h09'17"
………..
12. (+1) Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi) à 4h16'43
50. (+6) Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi) à 3:22 p.m.'55"

Motorcycles: the general ranking the end of the 11th stage

1. (=) Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) in 49h37'57"
2. (=) Ross Branch (BWA/Hero) à 10''22"
3. (=) Adrien Van Beveren (FRA/Honda) à 14'31"
4. (=) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (CHI/Honda) à 38'44"
5. (=) Kévin Benavides (ARG/KTM) à 41'19"
6. (=) Toby Price (AUS/KTM) à 47'59"
7. (=) Luciano Benavides (ARG/Husqvarna) à 55'48"
8. (=) Daniel Sanders (AUS/GASGAS) à 1h'12'25"
9. (=) Stefan Svitko (SVQ/KTM) à 1h54'18"
10. (=) Martin Michek (RTC/KTM) à 2h43'40"
………..
17. (=) Pablo Quintanilla (CHI/Honda) à 5:19'43"

The route of the Dakar 2024

• Friday January 5-Prologue: Al-Ula – Al-Ula → 128km including 28km of special (Winners: Ekström/Schareina)
• Saturday January 6-&Step 1: Alula – Al Henakiyah → 541km including 414km of special(Winners: De Mevius/Branch)
• Sunday January 7-&Stage 2 : Al Henakiyah – Al Duwadimi → 655km including 463km of special(Winners: Peterhansel/Cornejo Florimo)
• Monday January 8-&Stage 3: Al Duwadimi – Al Salamiya → 733km including 438km of special(Winners: Moraes/K. Benavides)
• Tuesday January 9 – Stage 4: Al Salamiya – Al-Hofuf → 631km including 299km of special(Winners: Loeb/Cornejo Florimo)
• Wednesday January 10-&Step 5: Al-Hofuf – Shubaytah → 645km including 118km of special (Winners: Al-Attiyah/Quintanilla)
• Thursday 11 and Friday 12 January-Éstep 6: Shubaytah – Shubaytah → 758km including 549km of special (Winners: Loeb/Van Beveren)
• Saturday January 13: Rest
• Sunday January 14-&Stage 7: Riyadh – Al Duwadimi → 873km including 483km of special(Winners: Loeb/Cornejo Florimo)
• Monday January 15 – Stage 8: Al Duwadimi – Hail → 678km including 458km of special(Winners: Ekström/K. Benavides)
• Tuesday January 16-&Step 9: Hail – Al Ula → 639km including 417km of special(Winners: Loeb/Van Beveren)
• Wednesday January 17-ÉStage 10 : Al Ula – Al Ula → 612km including 371km of special(Winners: Chicherit/Brabec)
• Thursday January 18-&Step 11: Al Ula – Yanbu → 587km including 480km of special(Winners: Chicherit/Branch)
• Friday January 19-&Step 12: Yanbu-Yanbu → 328km including 175km of special

The main entrants in the car category< /h2>

– Al Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) – n°200
– Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°201
– Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°202
– Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) – n°203
– Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°204
– Yacopini/Oliveiras (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°205
– Moraes/Monleon (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°206
– Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°207
– De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°209
– Roma/Bravo (Ford Ranger) – n°210
– Chicherit/Winocq (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°211
– Quintero/Zenz (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°216
– From Mévius/Panseri (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°221
– Baumgart/Cincea (Prodrive Hunter) – n°247

The main entrants in the motorcycle category

– Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) – n°1
– Toby Price (KTM) – n°2
– Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) – n°4
– Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) – n°5
– Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) – n°7
– Ricky Brabec (Honda) – n°9
– Skyler Howes (Honda) – n°10
– Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda) – n°11
– Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) – n°16
– Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) – n°42
– Ross Branch (Hero) – #46
– Kevin Benavides (KTM) – n°47
– Tosha Schareina (Honda) – n°73
– Joan Barredo (Hero) – n°88

Which channel to follow the Dakar 2024 ?

There is change in 2024. Privileged partner! of the rally since the start, France Télévisions will no longer be the main broadcaster of the race this year. Only the Dakar Journal will be offered. every evening to viewers of the public service channel around 8:50 p.m. This 46th edition marks the arrival of the Dakar on the L'Equipe Channel. Broadcast unencrypted on TNT, on channel 21, the channel of the major sports daily will cover the race in detail.

The big live show will allow you to see the arrival of the main competitors every day between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with several journalists and consultants on site to collect the first reactions ;actions of participants. It will also be possible to watch the Dakar Journal from the channel from 6:20 p.m. while the summary begins at 6:20 p.m. of each stage will be broadcast à 8 p.m. For those who weren't able to watch, the best moments from each stage will be rebroadcast every day tomorrow. from 11 a.m. Please note that the Eurosport group, via its channels 1 and 2, will always follow the race, with a summary of the event. about fifty minutes every day ' 8 p.m., 11:30 p.m. or the next morning & 8am.