On Friday, the remaining Dakar Rally competitors took on the final part of the Marathon Stage with the bike and car podium places changing across the magical Empty Quarter dunes.
Stage 12 saw the conclusion of the two-part Marathon Stage with a fifth consecutive car stage win for Sébastien Loeb, seeing the nine-time WRC winner and co-driver Fabian Lurquin move up to second overall in their BRX Hunter 1:27:10 minutes behind defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Four-time Dakar champion Al-Attiyah now has just two stages to successfully complete in his Toyota Hilux T1+ before he can celebrate a fifth title at the world’s most brutal rally. Brazilian rookie Lucas Moraes is over 50 minutes ahead of former winner Giniel de Villiers in the fight for the third podium spot.
“It was a perfect day: no mistakes, no stalling, no about turns. We drove well and the car worked perfectly. Second place is our goal, that’s why we’re pushing,” said Loeb, a 48-year-old Frenchman.
The leading bike rider has changed every day since the rest day, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price 28 seconds ahead of American Skyler Howes. Argentine Kevin Benavides is 2:40 minutes off in third. Australian Price added, “The Empty Quarter has delivered what they said it was going to do. There was a lot of sand and a lot of nothing.”
It was a solid T3 conclusion for the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich as American Mitch Guthrie Jr. and co-driver Kellon Walch won on the day and team-mates AJ Jones/Gustavo Gugelmin were applauded back to the Shaybah bivouac as the leaders.
“The car was fast. I think we overtook about 75 cars,” Guthrie Jr. said.
Jones’ closest competitors are teammates Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz — just over an hour behind — while T4 race leader Rokas Baciuška looks set to take the big prize alongside co-driver Oriol Vidal.
Baciuška, 23, said, “Pedal to the metal, that’s the only strategy.”
Saturday’s penultimate Stage 13 is the final chance for the convoy to surf the Empty Quarter dunes over a 153km timed special stage.