Frenchman Sébastien Loeb made Dakar history by snatching a sixth consecutive stage victory on Saturday on the eve of the finish in Dammam in Saudi Arabia which should, barring an accident, rhyme with a fifth coronation for Qatari Nasser Al- Attiyah.
With his co-driver Fabian Lurquin and their Prodrive Hunter, Loeb imposed a frantic pace and dominated from start to finish this 675 km stage, including 154 km of special, between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf in the east of Saudi Arabia on the gulf.
After seven stage victories since the start of the Dakar rally on December 31, the Loeb/Lurquin duo have pocketed 35 points for the world rally-raid championship, of which the Dakar is now the first round.
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) continued to manage, conceding to Loeb only 5 min and 38 sec, a derisory time in view of the 1 hour and 21 min lead in the general classification over Loeb.
Swede Mattias Ekstrom and 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, ahead of more than an hour the 4th, Giniel De Villiers (SAF / TOYOTA).
The 45 edition of the rally-raid started on December 31 from the shores of the Red Sea near Yanbu, for two weeks of stage and more than 8,000 km which saw the abandonment of two of the favorites: the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel and Spaniard Carlos Sainz.