SHAYBAH: French driver Sebastien Loeb won his second successive stage and fourth in all of this year’s Dakar Rally though Qatari defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah remains firmly in charge.
Al-Attiyah holds a daunting one hour 21 minutes advantage over his Brazilian Toyota team-mate Lucas Moraes with Loeb in third, a further 16 minutes in arrears.
Loeb — a record nine-time world rally champion — timed 3min 4sec quicker in his Prodrive than Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom with Moraes third on the 624 kilometers 10th stage from Harad to Shaybah.
Al-Attiyah may be looking comfortable for a fifth title but the 52-year-old knows there remain potential pitfalls as the race heads into the final four stages.
The next two are challenging even by the ultimate endurance race’s standards as they are termed “marathons” and take place in the Empty Quarter.
Adding to their challenges the competitors will not have assistance at camp following Thursday’s stage.
“We got to the Empty Quarter! It was a good day to test things for tomorrow, we know what we need,” said Al-Attiyah.
“I’m pleased, I’ve got a good feeling with the car, we didn’t make any mistakes. I didn’t push too hard today, I didn’t want to take risks. The marathon stage is tomorrow.”
The situation in the motorbike category is far tighter.
Kevin Benavides took over as the overall leader after Botswana’s Ross Branch won Wednesday’s stage.
Benavides, 34 and seeking his second Dakar title to add to his 2021 victory, now heads former leader Skyler Howes of the USA by 1min 29sec.
Australia’s Toby Price is third, 2min 10sec off the pace.
Benavides finished fourth in the stage, a minute slower than Branch — who recorded his second victory in this year’s race and more than made up for the embarrassment of having run out of fuel on two previous stages.
“I think I did a good job,” said Benavides.
“I attacked before crashing and losing a few minutes there, then I went back on the offensive.”
Howes posted the 17th fastest time, over seven minutes off the winner.
“I just wanted to make it through this stage today and get ready for the marathon stage,” said Howes.
“On short stages like this, you can definitely lose it, but trying to win it is not necessary.”
Price was pleased too with his day’s work ahead of Thursday’s far more intimidating stage.
“We just played it safe today,” said two-time champion who is yet to win since the race moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
“There was a lot of broken dunes and the sand was really soft.
“All in all, I think so far the position was pretty good.
“Hopefully a few people will get in the mix of it.
“We’ll try and get some gaps (Thursday) and see if it works.”
The leader of the truck category Ales Loprais meanwhile said he was “terribly sorry” after his vehicle hit an Italian tourist who subsequently died on Tuesday.
Loprais’s Praga truck struck the 69-year-old Italian man who was taking pictures behind a sand dune during the ninth stage between Riyadh and Haradh.
Loeb wins again as Dakar champion Al-Attiyah eyes fifth title
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Loeb wins again as Dakar champion Al-Attiyah eyes fifth title
- Al-Attiyah holds a daunting one hour 21 minutes advantage over his Brazilian Toyota team-mate Lucas Moraes with Loeb in third
Dubai Basketball edge Milan to secure EuroLeague victory
DUBAI: Dubai Basketball strengthened their home-court reputation with a 99-92 win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 18 of the EuroLeague at Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday, cheered on by more than 5,000 fans.
The hosts made a fast start and immediately imposed themselves at both ends of the floor. Canadian center Mfiondu Kabengele and Serbian big man Filip Petrusev controlled the paint early, creating close-range scoring opportunities and forcing Milan into defensive adjustments. With McKinley Wright IV and Dwayne Bacon adding pace and penetration, Dubai surged into a double-digit lead and dictated the tempo of the opening quarter.
Milan struggled to settle and spent much of the first period on the back foot, as Dubai’s advantage stretched to 15 points. Although the visitors steadied themselves as the quarter progressed, the early deficit proved costly.
Dubai head coach Jurica Golemac praised the impact of the home crowd after the game, saying: “Congratulations to the fans. We were missing them for sure in the last home game, and they helped us a lot. In the first quarter, we played one of our best quarters this season. The next game is at home in three days, so there is no time to rest too much. We need to prepare for that game first. We are not thinking three games ahead — we prepare for every game and try to win every game.”
Milan showed improved rhythm in the second quarter, but Dubai responded before the break. Bacon punished defensive lapses from beyond the arc, while Kabengele finished strongly inside to help the hosts take a seven-point lead into halftime.
The final period was defined by composure rather than flair. Milan threatened to draw level on several occasions, but missed free throws and execution errors halted their momentum. Bacon sealed the outcome from the free-throw line in the final two minutes, pushing Dubai back into a double-digit advantage and closing out the contest.
Bacon led all scorers with 25 points, while Wright recorded 19 points and nine assists. Kabengele added 17 points, and Petrusev contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. For Milan, Guduric topped the scoring with 11 points, alongside seven rebounds and seven assists.
Dubai Basketball now turn their attention to the ABA League, where they remain unbeaten. The team return to Coca-Cola Arena to face Slovenia’s KRKA in Round 12 of the competition.
