Well started on Monday during the eighth stage of the Dakar to gain time from leader Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb made a small navigation error which ultimately caused him to lose a few minutes. Conversely, Adrien Van Beveren, third in Hail, has regained a few and still remains in the race for victory.
[Updated January 14 at 1:10 p.m.] Contested over 678 kilometers, 458 of which are timed, the eighth stage of the Dakar 2024 will not have upset the established order. Setting off from Al Duwadimi this Monday morning, the survivors of this 46th edition drove in the sand during the first part of the special before experiencing much rockier roads as they approached the finish in Hail. In the car category, Sébastien Loeb did not win the stage this time. The Alsatian, already a winner three times since the start, was well on his way to setting the best time but a navigation error meant he had to make a U-turn to pass a way-point around kilometer 390. A small blunder which cost the former king of WRC rallies almost ten minutes, finally tenth at the finish, and now relegated to almost 25 minutes behind the only man ahead of him in the general classification: the Spaniard Carlos Sainz (4th today). ‘today).
The experienced Madrilenian (61 years old) managed his race perfectly, without overdoing it, and without worrying about the stage victory which went to his Audi teammate, Mattias Ekström. The day after having lost all his hopes of triumphing for the first time on the Dakar, the Swede, betrayed by his mechanics on Sunday, to the point of losing almost five hours while he was second the same morning, rolled over. floor to sign his second success after that obtained during the prologue. The Scandinavian, who has nothing more to play by Friday but remains a solid ally for Carlos Sainz if needed, beat the French Stéphane Peterhansel (3’45) and Guerlain Chicherit (4’10”). The former freestyle ski champion took the opportunity to get closer to the Top 5 in the general ranking by moving up two positions (6th).
On the motorcycle side, the main contenders for the final victory and the podium were marked by their pants during this eighth stage with, upon arrival in Hail, no less than eight riders classified in five minutes. If the defending champion Kévin Benavides was the fastest, just ahead of his brother Luciano (31″), it was the Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren who performed the best operation. The Northerner regained some of the time lost in the eve by placing third in the stage, 1 minute and 27 seconds behind the winner of the day.
The Tricolore, who was still ahead of all his rivals ten kilometers from the finish line and seemed capable of winning his fifth stage victory on the Dakar, still took almost three minutes from Ricky Brabec who still leads the way in the general classification. The American, who was only a small second ahead of Ross Branch at the start this morning, now has 42 but sees the Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, winner on Sunday, getting closer again (4’21”). Still fourth, Adrien Van Beveren is 12 minutes behind four days before the end of the rally in Yanbu.
1. (=) Sainz/Cruz (Audi) in 30h06’42″2. (=) Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) at 24’47″3. (=) Moraes/Monleon (Toyota) at 1h05’13″4. (=) De Mevius/Panseri (Toyota) at 1h34’18″5. (=) De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota) at 1h45’12″6. ( 2) Chicherit/Winocq (Toyota) at 1h56’37″7. (-1) Prokop/Chytka (Ford) at 2h01’23″8. (-1) Serradori/Minaudier (Century) at 2h03’15″9. (=) Botterill/Cummigs (Toyota) at 2h24’10. (=) Vanagas/Sikk (Toyota) at 2h34’24″………..16. ( 1) Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi) at 3h53’26″20. (6) Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi) at 4h44’07”
1. (=) Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) in 32h37’20″2. (=) Ross Branch (BWA/Hero) at 42″3. (=) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (CHI/Honda) at 4’21″4. (=) Adrien Van Beveren (FRA/Honda) at 11’58″5. (=) Kévin Benavides (ARG/KTM) at 20’31″6. (=) Toby Price (AUS/KTM) at 29’10″7. (=) Daniel Sanders (AUS/GASGAS) at 38’43″8. (=) Luciano Benavides (ARG/Husqvarna) at 39’35″9. (=) Stefan Svitko (SVQ/KTM) at 1h11’53″10. (=) Martin Michek (RTC/KTM) at 1h56’53″………..17. (3) Pablo Quintanilla (CHI/Honda) at 4h48’58”
Al Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) – No. 200- Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 201- Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – No. 202- Loeb/Lurquin (200). Prodrive Hunter) – No. 203- Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – No. 204- Yacopini/Oliveiras (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 205- Moraes/Monleon (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – No 206- Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – No. 207- De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – No. 209- Roma/Bravo (Ford Ranger) – No. 210- Chicherit/Winocq ( Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 211- Quintero/Zenz (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – No. 216- De Mevius/Panseri (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 221- Baumgart/Cincea (Prodrive Hunter) – No
– Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) – n°1- Toby Price (KTM) – n°2- Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) – n°4- Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) – n°5- Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) – n°7 – Ricky Brabec (Honda) – n°9- Skyler Howes (Honda) – n°10- Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda) – n°11- Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) – n°16- Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) – #42- Ross Branch (Hero) – #46- Kevin Benavides (KTM) – #47- Tosha Schareina (Honda) – #73- Joan Barredo (Hero) – #88
There are changes in 2024. A privileged partner of the rally from the start, France Télévisions will no longer be the main broadcaster of the race this year. Only the Journal du Dakar will be offered each evening to viewers of the public service channel around 8:50 p.m. This 46th edition marks the arrival of the Dakar on the L’Equipe Channel. Broadcast unencrypted on TNT, on channel 21, the channel of the major sports daily will cover the race in detail.
The big live show will allow you to see the arrival of the main competitors every day between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with several journalists and consultants on site to collect the participants’ first reactions. It will also be possible to watch the channel’s Dakar Journal from 6:20 p.m. while the summary of each stage will be broadcast at 8 p.m. For those who weren’t able to watch, the highlights of each stage will be rebroadcast each following day from 11am. Note that the Eurosport group, via its channels 1 and 2, will always follow the race, with a summary of around fifty minutes each day at 8 p.m., 11:30 p.m. or the next morning at 8 a.m.
