Third consecutive victory in the Dakar Rally

The tenth stage of the 45th Dakar Rally organized by Saudi Arabia took place on the 114-kilometre track between the cities of Haradh and Shaybah.

Team Bahrain Raid’s Sebastien Loeb took his third consecutive stage win and the 20th of his career with a time of 1 hour 48 minutes 32 seconds. On the stage, Swede Mattias Ekström of the Audi Sport team took second place 3 minutes and 4 seconds behind Loeb, and Brazilian Overdrive Racing team driver Lucas Moraes took third place 5 minutes and 22 seconds behind the leader.

Toyota Gazoo’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has won the Dakar Rally 4 times, including last year, completed the stage in 4th place and continued to lead the overall standings. The difference between Red Bull athlete Al-Attiyah and his closest follower Moraes was 1 hour 21 minutes 34 seconds.

WIN BRANCH BY MOTORCYCLE

Racing on behalf of the Hero MotoSports team in the motorcycle class, Ross Branch completed the stage in 1 hour 44 minutes and took first place.

The Botswana rider was trailed by Monster Energy Honda’s Adrien van Beveren of France by 21 seconds and South African Michael Docherty (HT Rally Raid Husqvarna) by 30 seconds.

In the general classification, Argentine Red Bull KTM Factory rider Kevin Benavides took first place with a total time of 35 hours 46 minutes 6 seconds. Kevin Benavides was followed by Skyler Howes of the USA, 1 minute 29 seconds behind, and Toby Price of Australia, 2 minutes and 10 seconds behind.

The eleventh stage of the race will take place tomorrow on the 274-kilometre course between Shaybah and the Empty Quarter Marathon. The 2023 Dakar Rally, which will last for 14 stages, will end on January 15 in Dammam. (AA)