gennaio 10, 2024 - Red Bull
Stage 4 at the Dakar Rally gives the convoy navigation nightmares
Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale.
Story of Stage Four: Keeping things on track
Thundering through the desert on Stage Four was nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb in his Prodrive Hunter. The Frenchman takes himself up to sixth overall thanks to the 24th stage win of his Dakar career.
"We were a bit in the dust because we started far from the front and had to overtake a lot of cars. Except from this and going back to get one waypoint it was a very good stage." – Sébastien Loeb
The second Prodrive Hunter car in the race is being driven by reigning Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari used Stage Four to move onto the overall podium for the first time at this year's rally. The five-time winner now appears to have his new car under his command and is finding momentum just as the Dakar arrives to the Empty Quarter desert.
"Now we will prepare the car for the long days in the dunes that are coming. By taking things step by step we can arrive to the top." – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Audi RS Q e-tron drivers Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel finished fourth and fifth respectively on the stage. The result keeps Sainz in second overall, currently 4m29s behind race leader Yazeed Al Rajhi.
Still in touch with the overall podium is the third Team Audi Sport driver Mattias Ekström as well as Lucas Moraes of Toyota Gazoo Racing. Both of these drivers remain in the Top 5, less than 20 minutes behind Al Rajhi.
"This was my first time opening the way and you can only learn these things by doing them." – Lucas Moraes
There was plenty of dust on the menu surrounding the Toyotas of Giniel de Villiers and Guillaume de Mévius on Stage Four as they both battled to get past slower cars on the route to Al Hofuf.
"We started back in 31st place and we passed 15 cars I think despite all the dust. We did a good job with the navigation, we lost some minutes but not a lot." – Guillaume de Mévius
Another steady day out on the course for Laia Sanz saw her set the day's 14th fastest time which now puts her 17th overall in the Ultimate class.
"It was a great day and we had a good rhythm. We lost some time at some waypoints but whenever we were in trouble we fixed it quickly. Then we started to push at the end of the stage and it was fun to follow Nani (Roma) in the dunes." – Laia Sanz
It was a harsh day in the desert for 21-year-old Seth Quintero and his Toyota GR DKR Hilux. Mechanical issues cost the young American a heap of time and his chance of finishing his debut Dakar on the podium.
A game of cat and mouse is developing in the Challenger class between race leader Eryk Goczal and Mitch Guthrie Jr. The pair of Taurus T3 Max drivers once again set the two fastest times on today's stage. Back in the Al Hofuf bivouac Guthrie Jr. was hit by a 17-minute time penalty for a combination of a missed waypoint and excessive speed. The Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team driver sits 19m23s behind Goczal in the general classification while the time penalties are under appeal.
"It was a really fast race course today. It had a little bit of everything but the main thing was full speed. The navigation section in the middle got us a little." – Mitch Guthrie Jr.
Once again the three Can-Ams driven by Rokas Baciuška, Austin 'AJ' Jones and Chaleco López were grouped together on the stage. The best placed of this trio in the general classification remains Jones who trails Eryk Goczal by 1h5m14s.
"Today was hard, probably the hardest navigation day we've had in a long time. There were cars absolutely everywhere looking for waypoints. I think that we honestly did pretty good to work through it." – Austin Jones
Another driver picking up a time penalty was Cristina Gutiérrez who got penalised 15 minutes for a missed waypoint. This saw her demoted to 16th place on the stage, one place ahead of fellow Taurus driver Dania Akeel.
"I think this was our worse day so far at this Dakar. We got lost at the beginning and we had to pass the dunes with two-wheel drive. Plus we had a problem with our antenna not recognising the waypoints. It was a day to forget." – Cristina Gutiérrez
Kevin Benavides celebrated his 35th birthday by opening the road thanks to yesterday's stage win. Expert navigation saw him lead the way for most of the day and pick up nearly four minutes of time bonuses for riding over fresh sand. When Kevin returned to the bivouac to blow out the candles on his cake with his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing crew he found himself in fourth overall, 20m39 behind race leader Nacho Cornejo.
"At the refuelling I saw I had a big cut in my rear tyre so that was a little bit scary. I took care of the problem and finally arrived to the finish." – Kevin Benavides
Luciano Benavides is 11 minutes behind older brother Kevin as the Husqvarna rider occupies sixth place overall.
"I'm happy with how things are going and looking forward to the next three days of dunes." – Luciano Benavides
It's been a frustrating opening four stages for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Toby Price and the same can be said for Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing's Daniel Sanders. The good news for these two Australians is that there's still a very long way to go and up next is three days among the dunes of the Empty Quarter desert.
"It was a bit of a confusing day all day for us today... but we could be in a pretty good spot for tomorrow's stage." – Toby Price
It's an early start for the entire convoy tomorrow with a liaison section of over 500 kilometres to cover before entering the timed special stage. Then comes a 118-kilometre race among the towering dunes of the Empty Quarter desert.
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