Dakar rookie Loeb wins SS2, Giniel third

Published Jan 5, 2016

Share

Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina - Nine-times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb won his first Dakar Rally stage on Monday, the 387km run between Villa Carlos Paz and Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.

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 affected by heavy overnight rain.

“It was tricky out there and I'm happy we came through okay," Loeb said afterwards. "I'm a little surprised to have clocked the best time of the day.

“We got lucky on a muddy section where a lot of 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.”

Loeb's factory Peugeot team-mate and multiple Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, 50, came in second some 2min 30sec adrift, with South African Giniel de Villiers third in the leading works Toyota Hilux - just four seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen's Mini.

"We didn't go absolutely mad, but we tried to go at a good pace," De Villiers said. "The beginning of the stage was obviously a lot drier than we thought. I thought it was going to be much wetter, but it was fine.

"In the middle there was a big mud-hole which was really tricky. We managed to go round but I saw a few cars that were stuck there.

"You had to stay concentrated to stay on the road for sure, because there was a lot of rocks and things next to the road.

Fifth, 15 seconds behind Hirvonen was Leeroy Poulter in the second South African Hilux, while the 2015 winner Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, in a Mini came in ninth, 4min 18sec off Loeb's pace, after getting a flat tyre.

Spain's Juan 'Nani' Roma, a winner in 2014, could only scramble home in 40th, a full 46 minutes back after getting stuck in mud. Argentina's Orlando Terranova got bogged down in the same place and lost a half hour on the race leaders.

The race is something of a leap in the dark for Loeb, who dominated the World Rally Championship during his long collaboration with Citroen.

He now leads overall from Peterhansel and De Villiers.

Earlier in the day, 28-year-old Australian Toby Price won the motorcycle version of Stage 2 on his KTM after winning a stage in 2015 when he finished third overall in his own maiden Dakar.

South Africans Kobus Potgieter and Wessel Bosman, each on a KTM, finished 115th and 126th respectively, while Team Rhide Yamaha team-mates Brian Baragwanath, George Twigge and Ted Barbier were second, 23rd and 40th respectively in the quad category.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain had already forced the cancellation of Sunday's opening stage because of safety concerns, a day after 10 people were injured when a car crashed into spectators during the prologue.

AFP

Related Topics: