Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina : Sebastien Loeb extended his Dakar Rally lead by claiming a second consecutive stage win on the run from Termas de Rio Hondo to Jujuy yesterday.
The stage was again shortened due to heavy rain, with the timed section beginning after what should have been checkpoint one, reducing it from 195 miles to 120, and the truck section abandoned when part of the course collapsed.
Loeb repeated his Monday feat of setting the pace through every timing split, and he now leads the event by just over five minutes from the Toyota of Giniel de Villiers.
What had been a Peugeot one-two was interrupted by Loeb’s Dakar legend team-mate Stephane Peterhansel coming through only sixth quickest, almost three minutes slower than the nine-time World Rally champion.
That allowed de Villiers to split the leading 2008 DKRs, though he is only 12 seconds in front of Peterhansel.
Carlos Sainz was Loeb’s closest challenger on stage pace, 1m23s adrift, as he began a recovery drive following the engine problem that left him stranded for more than 10 minutes on stage two.
The Spaniard’s performance yesterday moved him back into the overall top 10.
Last year’s winner Nasser Al Attiyah also made up ground after a delay on Monday.
Having dropped back to ninth overall due to a puncture on stage two, he was just two seconds behind Sainz in third on this stage and moved up to fifth place, 47s behind his X-raid Mini team-mate Mikko Hirvonen.
While Loeb has pulled five minutes clear up front, the pack behind remains close, with 1m40s covering de Villiers, Peterhansel, Hirvonen, Al-Attiyah and Leroy Poulter in second to sixth positions. On Monday, Loeb won his first Dakar Rally stage, the 387km run between Villa Carlos Paz and Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.
At the wheel of a Peugeot the 41-year-old Frenchman took 3 hours 45mins and 46sec to complete the second stage, which had been shortened due to a section being badly effected by heavy overnight rain.
“It was tricky out there and I’m happy we came through okay. I’m a little surprised to have clocked the best time of the day,” said Loeb.
“We got lucky on a muddy section where several others ran into trouble. The car is good, up to the job, especially on these narrow winding roads.
“We’ll be first out tomorrow (Tuesday) and that’ll make things easier for us.”