Dakar 2023 – Stage 12: The Sebastian Loeb festival continues!

Sebastien Loeb is unstoppable. Since the eighth stage last Sunday, the day before the rest day, the nine-time World Rally Champion has been dominating the stages of the Dakar. His incredible comeback now puts him in second place overall. It is a remarkable achievement, especially considering his enormous disappointment after the second stage, following a very difficult day. Where would he be today without that hour and a half lost at the beginning of the rally?

The disappointed ones of the day are Lucas Moraes and Henk Lategan. Both young Toyota drivers lose one position each in the overall standings after encountering technical issues with their respective vehicles. The Brazilian finds himself in third place, two days away from the finish in Dammam. Despite having nearly an hour’s advantage over fourth place, Moraes is close to finishing on the podium in his first Dakar. A real achievement for someone who is experiencing the world’s greatest rally-raid for the first time this year.

Second in the stage, Matthias Ekström is the other strong competitor in this second week of the event. Fourth in stage 9, second in stage 10, third in stage 11, and second again today. The Swedish driver had the pace to contend for a podium finish if it weren’t for a completely disastrous first part of the rally. It will be repeated every day, the performances of the Audi number 211 in the dunes will surely be a source of great regret for his teammates Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel.

Finally, always cautious without necessarily limiting the risks, Nasser Al-Attiyah continues his path towards a fifth title in the Dakar. The Qatari and his French co-driver finish third in this twelfth stage, three minutes and thirty seconds behind Loeb. The road is still long until the finish, although the defending champion’s crew is currently managing the situation perfectly.

Stage 12 ranking

General ranking