Loeb takes seventh stage as al-Attiyah retains hefty lead

Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah looks on during the Dakar Rally yesterday. (AFP)

Sebastien Loeb annexed the Dakar Rally seventh stage to move to the top of the chasing group behind runaway leader Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar yesterday which marked a change of guard at the top of the bike standings.Loeb, France’s nine-time world rally champion, landed his second win of 2022 as the gruelling roadtrip across the Saudi Arabian desert resumed after Saturday’s rest day. He crossed the finish line at the end of the 402 kilometre drive from Riyadh to al-Dawadimi almost five and a half minutes clear of triple Dakar winner al-Attiyah.But it was not all plain sailing for the 47-year-old whose best result from five Dakar attempts was second in 2017. “We had a fantastic special until 50 kilometres before the line, when we started having engine problems. It just sputtered on, off and on again. We lost a lot of time near the end, but we still came out on top, so no complaints from my side.”He then lifted the lid on his masterplan to derail al-Attiyah’s march to the title: “There is no strategy. We’ll just do our job and see how it plays out.”Qatari al-Attiyah steers his Toyota into the second and final week with a huge 44min 59sec lead from Loeb, his fourth Dakar title seemingly his to lose. Home favourite Yazeed al-Rahji lies third, just over eight minutes behind Loeb. Al-Attiyah said the priority now is to ‘give it our all day after day and hope that it will pay off at the end of the Dakar.”“The second week of the Dakar is a different race altogether. We didn’t really try to attack this morning, we left it for later in the stage. I don’t know whether we won the stage, many of our rivals started behind us, so we have to wait to find out. I’m not following any strategy. If we’re in a position to win a special, we won’t let it slip away, but our priority is to give it our all day after day and hope that it will pay off at the end of the Dakar,” al-Attiyah said.While al-Attiyah has a tight grip on the car standings there was a new name at the top of the bike race with France’s Adrien Van Beveren the new leader after a stage won by Chile’s Jose Cornejo Florimo and which proved costly to Sam Sunderland. The Briton lined up at the start leading the two-wheeled hunt for the 2022 title but ended it down in fourth after losing 20 minutes.“It was a bit of a rough day,” he reported. “Where the rains have passed through...so many of the tracks are washed away, so it’s a bit of a casino. You just flip a coin and hope it’s that one.”Beveren, who arrived at the finish in 11th, is for once enjoying some luck after failing to finish the last four editions. And after all the blood, sweat and tears for little or no reward, he was understandably moved at his change of fortune. “After all that’s gone before this is such a pleasurable feeling,” said the Yamaha rider, fighting back tears. The last time Beveren led the bike standings in 2018 he went on to crash, and with that memory still fresh he added: “I’ll do my best to defend my lead, but without going crazy.”While Beveren rides on, for Australian Daniel Sanders, who was lying third overall, this Dakar is over. The KTM rider crashed on the way to the start. He was taken to hospital but his injuries were reported not to be serious by the medical services. Stage 7 results1. Sebastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) 3h09m32s2. Nasser al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (Toyota Gazoo Racing) +5m26s3. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (Audi) +7m43s4. Stephane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger (Audi) +9m40s5. Yazeed al-Rajhi/Michael Orr (Overdrive Racing Toyota) +10m03s6. Bernhard Ten Brinke/Sebastien Delaunay (Overdrive Racing Toyota) +12m54s7. Lucio Alvarez/Armand Monleon (Overdrive Racing Toyota) +13m37s8. Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist (Audi) +14m42s9. Nani Roma/Alex Haro Bravo (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) +15m50s10. Vladimir Vasilyev/Oleg Uperenko (VRT Team) +18m05sOverall standings after SS71. Al-Attiyah/Baumel (Toyota) 23h52m22s2. Loeb/Lurquin (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) +44m59s3. Al-Rajhi/Orr (Overdrive Toyota) +53m31s4. Alvarez/Monleon (Overdrive Toyota) +1h15m09s5. Kuba Przygónski/Timo Gottschalk (X-raid Mini JCW) +1h30m04s6. Orlando Terranova/Dani Oliveras Carreras (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) +1h36m55s7. Vasilyev/Uperenko (VRT Team BMW) +1h39m47s8. Martin Prokop/Viktor Chytka (Ford Raptor RS) +1h44m48s9. Sebastian Halpern/Bernardo Graue (X-raid Mini JCW) +1h58m24s10. Vaidotas Zala/Paulo Fiuza (X-raid Mini JCW Rally) +2h28m51s