MOTORSPORT: Loeb further ahead in Dakar

Sebastien Loeb continues to set the pace in the Dakar Rally on his debut in the marathon event, while Australia’s Toby Price has lost the motorcycle lead – but he’s not worried about it.

Having now won the car category on both completed stages of the 38th Dakar – the eighth in South America – Loeb, his navigator Daniel Elena and their two-wheel-drive Peugeot 2008 DKR lead by more than five minutes.

The Toyota HiLux driven by South African Giniel de Villiers is second to nine-time world rally champion Frenchman Loeb.

“Monsieur Dakar” Stephane Peterhansel is third in another Peugeot and Finn Mikko Hirvonen, another Dakar debutant after four times finishing runner-up to Loeb in the WRC, is fourth in the first of the X-Raid Minis – and within six minutes of Loeb.

Last year’s winner, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, is fifth in another Mini but would be ahead of Hirvonen if not for a one-minute penalty.

Spanish great Carlos Sainz in another Peugeot was second to Loeb today but is only 10th overall after the time lost yesterday due to a mystery engine problem.

The only Australians in the car category, Peter Jerie and Dale Moscatt in a Toyota Hilux, are 39th and already more than 70 minutes behind Loeb-Elena after four minutes of penalties.

It was Honda’s day in the bikes as Aussie Price on a factory KTM dropped to ninth at the overnight stop in Jujuy, in far north Argentina, almost five minutes off the lead after having started the latest stage at the head of the field from Termas de Hondo Rio.

Spaniard Joan ‘Bang Bang’ Barreda was fastest on the latest stage but a one-minute penalty dropped him to fifth for the day and Price’s Slovakian teammate Stefan Svitko became the outright leader in the two-wheel division.

Price lost out by having to “sweep” the course as the previous night’s leader and is now a minute behind the Portuguese rider who had finished second to him a day earlier, Ruben Faria on a Husqvarna.

“There were a lot of animals and a lot of people on the track today,” Price said.

“I had a few close calls with some people. It was safer to back it down a little and put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow.

“We’re only at day three now, so there’s still a long way to go. Anything can happen.

“We’ve just got to keep ourselves situated in a good position, as close to the front as possible.

“Five or six minutes behind on day three is virtually nothing. We’ve just got to stay there during the first week and then we’ll start pushing hard during the second week.

“I’m not disappointed at all. We’re in a good position and I’m happy. We’ve done what we could and that’s where we want to be.

“We’re trying to make a smart race of it so we’ll see.”

Meanwhile, Loeb drove a faultless stage in stretching his lead over his main rivals, all Dakar veterans, although navigation has not yet been a major factor.

“I pushed hard and I had a good stage with no mistakes,” Loeb said.

“Everything is OK at the moment. I’m enjoying it.

“It has been two good days for me at the moment. I have a good feeling with the car. It’s performing well.

“At the moment I’ve got a good feeling on this type of road, but when we go to the desert it will be different, with long and hot stages.

“That is something that I don’t know very well, so we will see where we are in a few days.”

This year’s Dakar also will venture into Bolivia before returning to Argentina, with the finish at river port Rosario, the third biggest city in Argentina, on January 16.

Peterhansel, winner of a record 11 Dakars on two and four wheels, said the latest stage had been “shorter than we expected [after a section was deleted because of flooding from recent storms], but very nice to drive”.

“There were a little too many speed limits for the villages – every 5km we had a speed limit – so it was not easy,” Peterhansel said.

“I was not really relaxed because sometimes it was fast tracks and at others I was not really relaxed to brake at the good points, so I preferred to drive not too fast and be safe.

“It’s better to stay on the road!

“Sebastien is good, for sure. We are happy that Sebastien Loeb likes the Dakar.

“Everybody knows that he is very fast. He is a big champion, so on this kind of track [so far], for sure, he is faster than me.”

Reigning winner Al-Attiyah, only two seconds slower than Sainz on the latest stage, said he had not been taking any risks in his MINI.

“Sebastien produced a really good time, but we’ll see what is going on,” Al-Attiyah said.

“Sebastien is a good driver and Peugeot has made big improvements [in its second year back in the event].

“You need to have a good car here, but there’s still a long way to go.”