Victory on the 48h Chrono, the longest stage of Dakar 2024, was taken today by Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin in their Bahrain Raid Xtreme Prodrive Hunter as they emerged from a staggering 547 kms (340 miles) over the biggest dunes in the world. The concept of a vast distance being covered over two days is a hark back to the original Paris-Dakar event in Africa when simple bivouacs around a campfire were the norm before sleeping under the stars.
Having covered 402 kms yesterday Seb and Fabian slept in the middle of the dunes before they attacked the remaining 145 kms just after dawn this morning with speed very much on the agenda. It worked too, with the Hunter crossing the line to top the tables after 7 hours and 21 minutes on the stage without any major problems.
The team are equally as happy today having designed and built a car capable of completing the 48h Chrono with the crucial fuel consumption for Loeb to hit through the dunes in order to complete the vast distances involved. In the squad’s fourth Dakar it has been a vindication of their hard work and planning for thousands of man hours behind the scenes.
Next up, the Hunter will cover 853 kilometres to Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, where the Rest Day will be tomorrow. The Prodrive crew will refresh the Hunter with planned parts changes while drivers will rest up and then catch up with the press to talk about their adventures on the 48h Chrono. Guests will also visit the bivouac to see the huge operation that includes five trucks carrying spare parts and work bases for technicians.
Six stages remain on the Dakar for 2024, the next one being 483 kilometres, the longest one of the remaining six as we head back up to Al Duwadimi. The shortest one is 175 kilometres but that is on the last day around Yanbu on Friday January 19th; something that is far away in terms of the Dakar Rally.
Sébastien Loeb - BRX : “It’s great to win the difficult 48h Chrono stage after we’ve had two good days in the dunes. We knew 550kms in the Empty Quarter would be very hard for the car so I tried to take it a bit easier for the first part and not break anything on the first day but for today it was more like a sprint so I pushed quite hard to gain some time. Overall it was good to do a strategy but maybe we went a little bit too far as what we see is that others gained a bit of time in other ways, but OK. We are still in the game and that was the main objective t o be within 30 mins of the lead, but we will see as there is still a long way to go.”
Gus Beteli, BRX Team Principal: “That was brilliant to win the stage. We’re very happy to win the 48h Chrono and very much be in the game for the overall of the rally now we are up to third overall. The strategy paid off in a way but obviously if we knew then what we know now we could’ve saved a little less the other day but hindsight is a wonderful thing. We will now have a good rest day, re-prep the car and then continue to keep the pressure on to get some time back in the second week of the Dakar.”
Stage 6 Result
Shubaytah 48 hour Chrono, 547kms
1st Loeb/Lurquin Bahrain Raid Xtreme Prodrive Hunter
Overall Standings
3rd Loeb/Lurquin Bahrain Raid Xtreme Prodrive Hunter +29m31s
Source: Bahrain Raid Xtreme
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