AL-ATTIYAH AND LOEB IN THE DAKAR RALLY STAGE FOUR TOP FIVE FOR THE DACIA SANDRIDERS

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin completed Stage 4 with the second fastest time to move up from 10th in the overall ranking to the provisional runner-up spot, despite hanging dust and a damaged tyre delaying their progress earlier in the day.

Al-Attiyah/Lurquin had been 11m39s adrift of the lead on Tuesday evening but are now 3m55s from top spot.

By finishing Stage 4 in second position, Qatari driver Al-Attiyah has now placed either second or third on an FIA World Rally-Raid Championship stage on 10 occasions since he joined The Dacia Sandriders for its debut on Rallye du Maroc in October 2024.

From a starting position of 24th following their double tyre change on Stage 3, Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger battled up the leaderboard from 12th overnight to eighth at the completion of Stage 4 by going fifth quickest.

The French duo had reached the first time check at 43 kilometres in the lead of today’s classification. But in a virtual repeat of yesterday, they had to adopt a cautious approach after depleting their supply of spare tyres after a double deflation at the 130-kilometre mark.

Lucas Moraes, who joined The Dacia Sandriders ahead of the Dakar Rally as the reigning world champion, recorded the 21st fastest time on Stage 4 due, in part, to tyre damage. With Dennis Zenz navigating, Moraes entered the bivouac refuge in 12th position in the overall ranking.

After matching their previous Dakar Rally stage best on Tuesday with the fifth quickest run, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno completed Stage 4 in 10th place in the overall order.

It's a night in the desert next for the crews of The Dacia Sandriders who will bed down at a bivouac refuge point, a remote overnight camp where only limited resources are being made available.

Rules require drivers and their navigators to pitch their own tents (sleeping blankets and mats are also supplied) and prepare their meals from a box of rations. The only technical back-up is provided by their fellow competitors, although there is no time limit for making any necessary repairs prior to Stage 5 getting under way on Thursday.

KEY QUOTES

TIPHANIE ISNARD, TEAM PRINCIPAL, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS

We are still on the plan, still on the roadmap day by day, step by step. No big drama. It’s a really hard event for the mechanical aspects of the car and, on the human side, they spend a lot of time in the car, so it’s good to manage the human and technical side and be at the rest day on Friday, that’s our first target. We lost a lot of time with Lucas today and also with Cristina but it’s part of the game and we’re still in the game with all our cars in the top 12. That’s nice but unfortunately Seb also had a puncture at the beginning of the stage so it was difficult to manage until the end of the stage and difficult for his mindset because he want to push but he can’t. But he had a wonderful management of the risk. Nasser had a great day, even though he had a puncture. I am really proud of the team, we are The Dacia Sandriders and we are robust.

NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS

It was not easy from the beginning because of a lot of dust. Then we have one puncture, and we see Henk Lategan is passing but he was pushing. Okay, we did a good job, and we are here. We don’t lose too much time and maybe it’s good for the road position for tomorrow. There’s still a long way so we don’t take much risk. With no assistance and service tonight it’s important to save the car, but the car is good and we are quite happy.

SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS

We had two punctures in the same rutted section, caused by a stone that was impossible to see. After that, with no spare tyres left and more than 300 kilometres still to go, it was obviously a tricky situation. Fortunately, there were fewer rocks than yesterday and some more open sections where we could keep a decent rhythm. At that point, the main goal was simply to make it to the end of the stage and I’m really glad we did. When you get two punctures without really understanding why, you naturally slow things down. It’s the only approach that makes sense. From there, the priority was to finish the stage and bring the car back. We haven’t really been able to push since the start of the rally, so we’ll see how to approach tomorrow. Maybe being a bit more cautious early on is the right solution. We’ll analyse it and adapt.

LUCAS MORAES (BRAZIL), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS

The is the toughest marathon stage that I ever did, just too many cars, we got a puncture at the beginning, and I had to just cruise. Then 100 kilometres to the finish we tried to push again but the train was here already, so we let Nani [Roma] pass, and we followed him for the last 100 kilometres. Not easy but it’s good to be here, the first leg of the marathon stage so let’s see tomorrow.

DAKAR RALLY STAGE 4 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL)

AlUla-Refuge Marathon

Stage distance: 452km Liaison distance: 78km Total distance: 530km

2nd Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 4h54m11s

5th Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 5h05m02s

19th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), 5h21m14s

21st Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), 5h22m55s

DAKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 4 (UNOFFICIAL)

2nd Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), +3m55s

8th Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +19m57s

10th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +25m18s

12th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), +26m16s

DAKAR RALLY: THE BIG NUMBER

10: Today marked the 10th time that Nasser Al-Attiyah has finished either second or third on an FIA World Rally-Raid Championship stage since he joined The Dacia Sandriders for the 2024 Rallye du Maroc.

THE DAY AHEAD: STAGE 5, JANUARY 8

For the second day in a row, the car and motorcycle competitors follow split routes, which means there will be no tracks laid by the two-wheel contenders for their four-wheel counterparts to loosely follow. This could be particularly significant due to the frequent directional changes and rocky terrain in some sections of the stage.

Stage distance: 371km Liaison distance: 56km Total distance: 427km