Sébastien Loeb wins the 48-hour marathon stage in the car, Carlos Sainz takes control of the general classification

The French driver won his second stage victory on this Dakar on Friday, after a successful gamble.

Winning bet for Sébastien Loeb! The French driver from Bahrain Raid After deliberately losing time during the 5th stage to go far and not have to open the road in the dunes, the nine-time WRC world champion kept a good pace to take victory. He signs his second success in this edition and also places himself on the podium in the general classification.

In this special stage, described as a marathon, spread over two days and 48 hours, with a night under the stars in bivouac, the French pilot also took advantage of the problems of several of his competitors. Leader of the general classification before the start, Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) found himself in an accident at kilometer 51 on Thursday and was forced to retire. Winner of the 2nd stage, Stéphane Peterhansel (Audi) experienced mechanical problems after more than 250 kilometers of racing and found himself stopped in the middle of the desert.

Carlos Sainz new overall leader

Provisionally 3rd when the timer stopped at the end of the special, Sébastien Loeb finished his comeback in the early hours of the morning, after having swallowed the last kilometers of liaison to return to Shubaytah. He is ahead of Carlos Sainz (+2’01”) and Mattias Ekström (+10’55”). The Spaniard, struggling at the end of the 5th stage, almost scored the perfect move, leading at every intermediate point all day Thursday, but he finally had to give in to the Frenchman’s comeback.

The Audi driver can nevertheless console himself with the general classification, of which he takes control, benefiting from the abandonment of Al-Rajhi. He is followed by his teammate, Mattias Ekström (+20’21”), and by Sébastien Loeb (29’31”).