World Rally legend Sebastien Loeb underlined his credentials in the 2023 Dakar Rally yet again with a conclusive victory on Stage 9, as Carlos Sainz suffered a major crash and Nasser Al-Attiyah extended his overall lead on Tuesday. Loeb gave Bahrain Raid Xtreme a second successive stage victory in the Dakar Rally Tuesday as Prodrive Hunters dominated proceedings with a 1-2-3 result in Saudi Arabia. Partnered by Fabian Lurquin, Loeb secured his third win in this year's event on the 358km ninth stage from Riyadh to Haradh to boost his challenge for a podium finish in his BRX Prodrive Hunter. Teltonika Racing's Vaidotas Zala and GCK Motorsport driver Guerlain Chicherit rounding out the podium spots Tuesday. Loeb led early on over the gravel terrain that greeted competitors at the resumption of the rally-raid following a day's rest in the Saudi capital, with Chicherit following him closely behind in second. After 123km Zala had leapfrogged both Chicherit and Loeb to grab the top spot, but Loeb struck back immediately afterwards to open up a 1m24s lead, before extending his advantage further as the terrain changed to a mix of sand and asphalt. The Frenchman's margin at the finish line was 3m07s as he claimed an emphatic third stage victory of 2023 and 19th of his career. Mattias Ekstrom brought some consolation for Audi with a fourth-place finish in Tuesday's special, some 7m21s behind stage winner Loeb, but the day's headlines were dominated by his teammate Sainz. One of the two remaining Audi drivers after Stephane Peterhansel's withdrawal in the opening week, Sainz was involved in a major shunt just six kilometers into the stage when his car rolled upside down while tackling a dune. Sainz had initially looked set to withdraw from the event and was even on his way to hospital after reporting chest pains, only to change his mind midway through the journey and ask the helicopter to turn around. Audi's assistance trucks were able to arrive on the scene of the accident and Sainz is now expected to complete the stage and salvage some result in what has been a fraught outing for both the Spaniard and his team. Fifth place on the stage went to Le Mans 24 Hours winner Romain Dumas in his Rebellion, with Jakub Pryzognski sixth in the X-raid Mini. Giniel de Villiers was Toyota's top finisher in seventh, some eight minutes down on the time with which Loeb claimed the stage win. Al-Attiyah also had a relatively underwhelming day as he finished nearly nine minutes off the top spot in his Toyota Hilux, just beating X-raid Mini's Sebastian Halpern and Overdrive driver Lucas Moraes in the top 10. However, with Al-Attiyah's nearest challenger and teammate Henk Lategan losing nearly 40 minutes after stopping just 18km into the stage due to mechanical problems, the Qatari driver actually managed to extend what was already a substantial lead in the overall standings. Loeb's 19th Dakar Rally stage victory lifted him to third place in the overall standings, as Al Attiyah, almost nine minutes off the pace on the day in eighth, still extended his overall advantage to 1 hr 21 mins 57 secs in his Toyota over Brazil's Lucas Moraes. Tuesday's stage took the cars through wadis presenting a difficult navigational test, and pools of water left by recent rain, before crossing a range of dunes leading to the finish. Loeb said: "We had a little moment when we had a problem with the road section, but after that I tried really hard in and we made it a good stage. It was very tricky for navigation and we lost some time in three or four places, but it was tough for everybody because the motorbike lines were wrong." — Agencies
