The Frenchman Sébastien Loeb makes history in the Dakar by conquering the sixth consecutive stage victory on the eve of the arrival in Dammam in Saudi Arabia which, barring unforeseen events, should coincide with the fifth overall victory for the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah.
With his co-driver Fabian Lurquin and their Prodrive Hunter, Loeb set a frantic pace and dominated this 675km stage from start to finish, including 154km of special, between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf in eastern Saudi Arabia on the Gulf.
After seven stage victories since the start of the Dakar on 31 December, the Loeb/Lurquin duo have pocketed 35 points for the rally-raid world championship, of which the Dakar is now the first round.
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) reduced the damage, giving Loeb just 5min 38sec, a paltry time given his lead of 1hr 21min over Loeb in the general standings.
Swede Mattias Ekstrom in his hybrid Audi set the third fastest time, 6 minutes and 31 seconds behind Loeb.
In the general classification, the young Brazilian Lucas Moraes clings to the podium, third less than a quarter of an hour from Loeb, preceding the 4th, Giniel De Villiers (SAF/TOYOTA) by over an hour.
The 45th edition of the rally-raid started on 31 December from the shores of the Red Sea near Yanbu, for two weeks of stages and more than 8,000 km which saw the abandonment of two of the favourites: the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel and the Spanish Carlos Sainz.
