Prodrive driver Loeb sat a distant ninth in the general classification heading into the fourth stage in Saudi Arabia, having lost a considerable amount of time on the opening day due to punctures and a broken rear tow link - and again on Monday with more tyre troubles.
But the Frenchman was finally able to deliver on his potential in the 299km test between Al Salamiya and Al-Hofuf, as he overcame long-time stage leader Nasser Al-Attiyah and home favourite Al-Rajhi in the final three sections to take a conclusive victory.
Defending champion Al-Attiyah led Stage 4 from the very beginning in his Nasser Racing-entered Prodrive Hunter, with Toyota’s Seth Quintero, Overdrive's Al-Rajhi and stablemate Loeb all trading the second spot as they traversed a variety of terrains en route to Al-Hofuf.
By the penultimate checkpoint, Al-Attiyah had cemented his position as the favourite for stage victory, having built a small but comfortable 24-second lead over Loeb - and stretched his advantage even further over overall leader Al-Rajhi.
But the Qatari driver lost a heap of time in the final 36km run to the finish, allowing first Al-Rajhi and then Loeb to surge ahead of him in the end-of-the-day order.
Loeb’s final winning margin over Al-Rajhi was 1m08s, as he celebrated his 24th career stage victory in the prestigious rally-raid.
The 49-year-old had only been running third with the final 100km of the stage to run but leapfrogged Al-Rajhi at the sixth checkpoint, which allowed him to pounce on Al-Attiyah’s troubles on the last dash to the finish.
Al-Attiyah slipped to third at the end behind Al-Rajhi, but still finished over three minutes clear of Carlos Sainz Sr in the best of the factory Audi entries.
Stage 1 winner Guillaume de Mevius backed up the performance of his Overdrive team-mate Yazeed Al-Rajhi to finish a solid fifth, beating the next-best Audi of 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel.
Mathieu Serradori once again mixed with the 4x4 runners in his two-wheel drive Century, finishing seventh ahead of Vaidotas Zala in the X-Raid Mini.
Next up was Simon Vitse in his MD Rallye prototype, while Martin Prokop provisionally finished 10th in a Ford Raptor entered by MP Sports / Benzina team.
It was a difficult day for the factory Toyota team, with Lucas Moraes ending up as the best of the marque’s five-strong contingent in 11th place after dropping 11 minutes to stage winner Loeb.
Team-mate Quintero fared ever worse as his chances of a podium finish came to an end when his Hilux crawled to a halt 68km into the stage with mechanical issues. He was yet to finish the stage at the time of writing.
With four of the 12 stages now complete, Al-Rajhi continues to lead the overall standings in his Overdrive-run customer Toyota, holding a 4m19s advantage over the Audi of three-time Dakar winner Sainz.
Al-Attiyah has jumped from fifth to third despite a late setback on Stage 4, while Audi's Mattias Ekstrom has gone in the other direction after picking up a two-minute penalty for an unspecified reason.
Victory on Tuesday has elevated Loeb to sixth behind Moraes and Ekstrom, but with a massive 23m50s deficit to make up in the final two-thirds of the rally.
Victory on Tuesday has elevated Loeb to sixth behind the Toyota of Moraes, but with a massive 23m50s deficit to make-up in the final two-thirds of the rally.
Provisional classification after Stage 4 (Top 10):
|
Position |
Driver |
Car |
Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Yazeed Al-Rajhi |
Audi |
15h44m39s |
|
2 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toyota |
+4m29s |
|
3 |
Nasser Al-Attiyah |
Prodrive |
+11m03s |
|
4 |
Lucas Moraes |
Toyota |
+19m31s |
|
5 |
Mattias Ekstrom |
Toyota |
+19m42s |
|
6 |
Sebastien Loeb |
Audi |
+23m50s |
|
7 |
Mathieu Serradori |
Prodrive |
+24m20s |
|
8 |
Stephane Peterhansel |
Toyota |
+26m56s |
|
9 |
Vaidotas Zala |
Audi |
+32m52s |
|
10 |
Guillaume de Mevius |
Toyota |
+40m43s |
