W2RC Goes Red: Robe Resurfaces, Al-Attiyah Complicated

Al Atiyah They promised to be very happy on Sunday when they were with him toyota hilux Finished 2nd in Stage 1 morocco rallyseen as his main rival for the first world title Rally-Raid FIA (W2RC), Sébastien Loeb of France, He suffered a broken suspension at the start of the special, causing him to lose 19 minutes on the first day. Loeb and Nasser arrived almost tied for his second booking from the end of the course. France scored 112 points, Qatar scored 111 points. Nasser had the goal of destroying everything in order to face the final trial in his favor.However In the second stage, the feat was complicated. Sebastian robenine-time World Rally Champion, came back from behind to win the stage The tables turned on a day when Nasser Al-Attiyah was devastated by three punctures.

Alsace’s pace was devastating. He took the lead of the day at his fourth checkpoint and from there in his second Bahrain Raid Extreme Orlando he increased his advantage by 10’15, who is also a Terra Nova pilot. On top of this With 5 points awarded to the stage winner, the French regained a very tight World Championship lead.

A day to forget al-Attiyah

Al-Attiyah missed out on the fight and started the day losing 5 minutes in the first sector and 26 minutes in the second. From then on, Nasser was able to catch up to Sebastian, but after suffering three punctures, he ran out of spare tires and eventually lost everything. Finally, Toyota’s Qatar finished behind the stage winner with a special of 53’38”. Sébastien Loeb demoted him to 7th overall at the Moroccan event, 33’18” behind Loebthe new leader.

Knowing what happened, and Nasser’s enthusiasm, what happens in the three remaining stages to complete the Rally of Morocco promises strong emotions. Qatar continue the attack with their Toyota Hilux. Andalusia To reach his rally, he needs to add all possible points of stage wins and have good options against Loeb, who himself can’t sleep either. To win Morocco, it is worth taking insurance. But at each stage you need as many points as possible and that means giving gas.

Also notable is Isidore Esteve’s very positive final 6th place among FIA entries, who completed the entire stage within the top 10 and moved up two places at the final checkpoint to finish 6th in the new Toyota Hilux T1+. was worth it. A car that already allows you to be among the best.

Sainz is second

Carlos Sainz continues in a very positive way in the first race against Audi’s second-generation Dakar electric vehicle, the Audi RS Q e-Tron E2. The Spanish driver was quickest on the first stage and was his second fastest this Monday. The Morocco Rally is seen as a pure test of preparation for the Dakar, so it has been done without being registered in the FIA ​​category, and so far the testing has been satisfactory.

Sainz completed the second stage in 3 hours 2 minutes 21 seconds, over five minutes ahead of Loeb’s best time, accompanied by his inseparable co-driver Lucas Cruz.

Moreover, for the second day in a row, the Spaniard was faster than his teammate. He was 8’52” faster than Stéphane Peterhansel and Matthias his Ekström he beat by 11’09”.