Loeb wins second successive stage in Dakar

SHAYBAH - French driver Sebastien Loeb won his second successive stage of this year's Dakar Rally as he claimed stage 10 in Saudi Arabia, making it his fourth stage win in this campaign.

Loeb staged a superb drive alongside Fabian Lurquin to edge out Stephane Peterhansel’s Audi by 13 seconds.

The win lifted Loeb to provisional 14th overall.

However, Qatari defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah remains firmly in charge after he increased his overall lead to 18 minutes and 18 seconds over Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

The race heads into the final four stages with the next two expected to be challenging as they are termed 'marathons' and take place in the Empty Quarter.

Kevin Benavides took over as the overall leader after Botswana's Ross Branch won Wednesday's stage in the motorbike category.

Benavides is seeking his second Dakar title to add to his 2021 victory.

He now leads former front-runner Skyler Howes of the USA by 1min 29sec.