The punctures monopolize the Sainz-Loeb fight and leave the Frenchman 13 minutes behind the Spanish in the Dakar 2024

The up to three punctures of the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Audi), leader of the Dakar 2024, this Wednesday reduced the advantage of the Madrid native over the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive), second, who despite not being able to show great rhythm when having to open the track and puncture two of his tires, he is 13 minutes and 22 seconds behind Audi in the general classification.

At the end of the stage, Sainz lost a total of 7 minutes and 11 seconds over the French rider, largely due to the fact that he had to stop up to three times to change wheels and lost sixteen minutes compared to Loeb, who before starting the special stage had a problem with the hydraulic jack.

But when even the lead seemed to be able to change direction, a five-minute stop by the French rider due to the last of his punctures allowed Sainz to reduce the advantage that the Frenchman had gained.

However, the lead of 20 minutes and 33 seconds that the Madrid native had at the beginning of the day was diluted to 13 minutes and 22 seconds, so it will be the penultimate stage this Thursday in which it will be decided, to a large extent, the winner of this Dakar 2024, in which neither the Catalan Nani Roma (Ford), nor the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive), who have permanently retired from the race, are no longer participating.

Brabec, more leader with its first victory

On motorcycles, the American Ricky Brabec (Honda) withstood the challenges of the Botswana Ross Branch (Hero) in the first half of the day and gave gas in the second to take the victory of the tenth stage of the Dakar and be more of a leader by taking more than ten minutes over the Botswana Ross Branch (Hero) in the general classification.

The African tried in every way to rebalance the general classification, after this Tuesday the American Ricky Brabec dealt a blow to the general classification by taking six minutes and 27 seconds over the Botswana, but his efforts came to nothing during the second half of the course and finished sixth.

Antepenultimate stage of Dakar 2024

Thus, he could not level the classification in which the Frenchman Adrien van Beveren (Honda) is approaching second place, as he is already less than a minute behind Branch, while the Chilean Nacho Cornejo (Honda) is also approaching the podium , being two minutes and two seconds behind the Frenchman and 2 minutes and 56 seconds from second position, spurred on by his second place in the stage.

This tenth stage, the penultimate of the Dakar, had a common start and finish, the city of Al Ula, but in between 612 kilometers, 371 of which were special, which had a high value for this Thursday’s stage , the most difficult of those ahead, since it will be a territory full of stones and in which opening a track will be very complicated. With EFE

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