Dakar 2022: It’s advantage Nasser Al Attiyah as starting pistol cracks for second week

Loeb
wins
Stage
7

Victory
in
Stage
7
of
Dakar
2022
his
BRX
Hunter
was
Loeb’s
16th
stage
win
at
the
Dakar.
“Only
half
of
the
rally
is
done
so
we’ll
keeping
pushing.
I’ll
keep
doing
my
best
on
each
stage
and
we’ll
see
what
this
gets
us,”
said
Loeb.

The
nine-time
World
Rally
Championship
winner
seems
set
on
doing
all
he
can
to
make
life
as
uncomfortable
as
possible
for
race
leader
Al
Attiyah
in
the
second
week
of
the
Dakar.

Cool
customer

However,
the
ace
Qatari
is
a
cool
customer
even
under
the
glare
of
the
desert
sun.
The
Toyota
Hilux
T1+
driver
still
leads
Loeb
by
45min
despite
conceding
over
five
minutes
in
Stage
7.

“I’m
not
following
any
strategy.
If
we’re
in
a
position
to
win
a
special,
we
won’t
let
it
slip
away,
but
our
priority
is
to
give
it
our
all
day
after
day
and
hope
that
it
will
pay
off
at
the
end
of
the
Dakar,”
Al
Attiyah,
the
three-time
Dakar
winner
said.

Different
story

Week
two
of
the
Dakar
started
much
better
for
Audi
Sport
compared
to
first
week.
Back
then
all
three
of
their
Audi
RS
Q
e-trons
were
well
off
the
pace
on
Stage
1.
Stage
7
was
a
different
story
with
Spain’s
rally
legend
Carlos
Sainz
setting
the
day’s
third
fastest
time
and
France’s
14-time
winner
and
defending
champion
Stephane
Peterhansel
(FRA)
just
one
place
further
back.

The
third
Audi
driver
—
Sweden’s
Mattias
Ekstrom
also
came
home
in
the
Top
10
on
the
stage,
placing
eighth.

Tightening
up

In
bikes
category,
the
second
week
of
Dakar
2022
was
over
before
it
had
begun
for
Australia’s
GasGas
Factory
rider
Daniel
Sanders.
Last
year’s
best
placed
rookie
was
third
overall
at
the
Rest
Day,
but
he
did
not
make
it
to
the
start
line
of
Stage
7.
Sanders
crashed
during
the
liaison
route
to
the
special
stage
and
fractured
his
left
elbow
and
wrist,
bringing
his
Dakar
to
a
premature
end.
Sanders’s
GasGas
team-mate
—
England’s
Sam
Sunderland
was
also
out
of
luck
on
Stage
7.
The
2017
Dakar
winner
lost
his
overall
lead
on
the
stage
and
now
lies
fourth
overall.

Things
are
tightening
up
in
the
truck
race
with
Russia’s
three
leading
Team
Kamaz
Master
drivers
all
bunching
up
at
the
top
the
rankings.
Stage
winner
Anton
Shibalov
is
still
third
overall,
but
closer
to
the
lead
than
he
was
on
the
rest
day.
Second
place
on
the
stage
keeps
Eduard
Nikolaev
in
second
overall,
now
just
five
minutes
behind
race
leader
and
team-mate
Dmitry
Sotnikov.