The Dacia Sandriders made a triumphant return to Portugal by finishing first and second on Stage 4 of the country’s FIA World Rally-Raid Championship event.
Starting out from the Spanish city of Badajoz this morning, The Dacia Sandriders excelled throughout the penultimate stage of Rally-Raid Portugal with all three of its sustainable-fuel cars setting top five times in a highly impressive showing.
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin charged to the stage win to follow up on their Prologue victory on Tuesday. Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger, yesterday’s stage winners, were second quickest as Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno rounded out today’s top five ahead of the overnight halt in Lisbon.
Loeb and Boulanger will begin Sunday’s deciding stage in third position, having moved up from fourth overall, while Gutiérrez and Moreno climb from eighth to fifth. Tenth overnight, Al-Attiyah and Lurquin are up to seventh with just the Lisbon loop-stage finale remaining.
Al-Attiyah and Lurquin’s stage triumph marked Al-Attiyah’s 47th in the FIA World Rally Championship (W2RC). And with Al-Attiyah first in the W2RC title standings, today’s performance came at the perfect time for the Qatari driver.
Despite opening the road for the chasing pack following their Stage 3 victory, Loeb and Boulanger didn’t falter and came through the 274 timed kilometres with the second quickest time, 2m07s down on their team-mates.
By gaining more than five minutes on their closest rival, the French pair are on course for a podium finish, Loeb’s second in as many events after he finished runner-up on the South African Safari Rally in May.
Gutiérrez and Moreno made it a day to remember for The Dacia Sandriders by completing Saturday’s route from their native Spain to Portugal in fifth position following another strong showing by the duo.
Rally-Raid Portugal, the penultimate round of the 2025 W2RC, concludes tomorrow (Sunday) with the action starting and finishing in the capital Lisbon.
KEY QUOTES
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was really nice to win and to also finish second for Seb. Cristina also did a good job. It looks like no problem with the brakes today and we’re really quite happy. We needed to win this day
to have good points. And thanks to Seb because he finished second and kept the other drivers behind. We tried to work hard and for tomorrow also. We need to learn and to understand a lot of things for this race. I am sure we can have a good result here and also the next race will be good. »
CRISTINA GUTIÉRREZ (SPAIN), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a good day. The weather respected us a little bit with the heat, my Dacia Sandrider worked perfectly today, and we enjoyed the stage a lot. We are happy for the team because Nasser and Sébastien get first and second and me fifth, so three cars in the first five places is very nice and the team deserves it because the work they have done is incredible. We should be very happy. »
SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « We were first on the road so it’s always a bit more slippery. We did a really good stage with no mistakes, pushing hard to the end, no problems at all, a good day, we couldn’t do much better
in this position. Taking the third place overall is good, second in the stage with Nasser winning, it’s a perfect day for Dacia. »
FABIAN LURQUIN (BELGIUM), NAVIGATOR, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « Finally, our first clean stage where Nasser could show his pace and that was actually very impressive. I’m very happy to win our first stage together and hopefully there will be many more. »
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL STAGE 4 (SS5) ULTIMATE CATEGORY RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) – Badajoz-Lisboa
Stage distance: 274km Liaison distance: 254km Total distance: 528km
1st: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 2h22m36s
2nd: Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 2h24m43s
5th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), 2h27m33s
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 4 (UNOFFICIAL)
3rd: Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +10m42s
5th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +23m17s
7th: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), +24m56s
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL: THE BIG NUMBER
5: The Dacia Sandriders enjoyed a momentous day on Rally-Raid Portugal with its three cars all finishing Stage 4 in the top five. Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin were fastest, Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger were second quickest with Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno setting the fifth best time.
THE DAY AHEAD: STAGE 5 (SS6), SEPTEMBER 28
The 2025 edition of Rally-Raid Portugal concludes tomorrow (Sunday September 28) with a looped stage starting from and finishing in Lisbon. A high-speed stage in forest areas, a sandy but firm surface awaits. The podium is positioned at the foot of the Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos), which celebrates Portuguese navigators.
Stage distance: 103km Liaison distance: 184km Total distance: 287km
Linda Hirvonen,