Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) leader Sebastien Loeb is already geared up - and ready to shift on overdrive - for next month’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge after his record-breaking run with Bahrain Raid Xtreme in the Dakar Rally.
The nine-time World Rally Champion fought back brilliantly after a succession of early punctures on stage two dropped him to 31st overall, winning a record six Dakar stages in a row, and seven in total, on his way to a second successive runner up finish yesterday behind Nasser Al Attiyah.
Loeb, partnered by Fabian Lurquin, now carries a two-point advantage over Al Attiyah into the second round of the championship in the UAE, where he will be looking to build on his historic display in Saudi Arabia in the BRX Prodrive Hunter.
“I’ve improved my driving since Abu Dhabi last year, so with that rally up next, hopefully we can be on a good rhythm again,” said Loeb, who is now at the top of the W2RC standings.
“We had hardly any problems with the car itself, just the punctures in the first week that were really bad luck as we were trying to take it easy.
“But those flats lost us more than two hours, so to finish second is very good considering where we were. We had a very good second part of the rally; we enjoyed it; we had fun in the car, as it was so good.
“We’ve taken good points for the championship, taken a new Dakar record with six consecutive stage wins, so I’m still happy. For sure I would prefer to win because now it is my third second place, but not everybody finishes on this kind of rally.”
Third place in the W2RC standings after two Dakar stage victories and in 10th place overall are Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq in another Prodrive Hunter.
“It was amazing to really be at the finish because; on some stages I was not sure if I was able to get the car back each night because I was so sick,” said Chicherit, who was ill during the rally.
For details, follow @braidxtreme, @sebloebofficiel, @gchicherit on Instagram.
