In news that will surprise no one, Sebastien Loeb continues to lead the Dakar Rally after the first four stages.
In his debut at the world’s most gruelling rally, the nine-time World Rally Championship winner has won the the second and third stages in the car category of the 2-week long rally. In the 190 km stage between Termas de Rio Hondo and San Salvador de Jujuy in Argentina, Loeb set a blistering time of 2 hr 9 min 39 seconds.
In third place overall is defending champion Nasser al-Attiyah, 6 min 50 sec behind the Frenchmen. In eighth is Mikko Hirvonen who like Loeb, is making his Dakar Rally debut albeit racing for the Mini team.
After the third stage, Loeb said “I pushed hard and I had a good stage with no mistakes. Everything is okay at the moment. The car is going very well. I have a good feeling with the car. It’s performing well. So, at the moment, I’m enjoying it. At the moment we are on tracks… so I’ve got a good feeling on this type of road. But when we go to the desert, it will be different, with long and hot stages. That is something that I don’t know very well, so we will see.”
For the Dakar Rally, Loeb has teamed up with Peugeot, the outfit he so famously raced with when he demolished the Pikes Peak record. For Dakar, he is driving the Peugeot 2008 DKR.
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