Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger have moved into the Dakar Rally top three for The Dacia Sandriders with two days of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship season opener to go.
While their elevation to the provisional podium is worthy of high praise given their refusal to lose their motivation after myriad delays throughout the event – including an unscheduled stop to change a damaged tyre on today’s Stage 11 – team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin made light of running second on the road in their pursuit of Daka Rally glory.
They reached the overnight halt in Al Henakiyah still in front of international motorsport’s toughest competition. And although their previous overall advantage of 12 minutes was trimmed to 8m30s, the fact Al-Attiyah/Lurquin were able to minimise the time loss to such an extent further underlined their ability and the performance of the Dacia Sandrider.
Al-Attiyah/Lurquin started out from Bisha this morning nine places ahead of their new closest pursuers, Nani Roma/Alex Haro, on the start list. While that gave their Spanish rivals a significant edge, Al-Attiyah/Lurquin excelled through the fast-paced 346- kilometre timed section.
Despite the complexities of judging the optimal pace on the largely soil-based tracks, they negotiated the numerous intersections, forks and junctions without error and reached the bivouac in Al Henakiyah with the 17th fastest time.
Having dropped to as low as 12th in the overall classification on Stage 3, Loeb/Boulanger’s capture of third place with two days remaining followed another demanding day on the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally.
Just one position behind Al-Attiyah/Lurquin in the starting order, Loeb/Boulanger not only faced far from ideal stage conditions, they also lost time when they were forced to change a damaged tyre shortly before the pitstop, having reached the 120-kilometre checkpoint fourth quickest.
However, they responded well to their latest setback to go 10th quickest and will start Friday’s penultimate stage 2m55s ahead of the crew in fourth position.
Fourth on the road after they made it three Dacia Sandriders in the top four on Wednesday, Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz completed Stage 11 as the 14th quickest pairing and climbed from eighth to seventh in the overall ranking, despite suffering a damaged tyre eight kilometres from the finish.
Following their adventures on Stage 10 when they inadvertently rolled their Dacia Sandrider after seven kilometres, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno enjoyed a less dramatic day.
Despite being caught up in the dust of other crews, they were 18th fastest and have also moved up one position overall, climbing from 14th to 13th.
Essential personnel from The Dacia Sandriders were on duty at 190 kilometres for the event’s fourth pitstop, where tyre changes and minor repairs are permitted. A pitstop was also included on the routes of Stage 1, 2 and 9.
In addition to Moraes/Zenz joining its all-star line-up for 2026, The Dacia Sandriders has made several key upgrades to its event-winning Dacia Sandrider, which continues to be powered by sustainable fuel from Aramco and equipped with BFGoodrich tyres. The upgrades are focused on weight reduction, cooling efficiency, visibility, reliability and driver comfort. Meanwhile, a refreshed colour scheme, which includes more orange for a sharper look, was revealed ahead of the Dakar Rally.
KEY QUOTES
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « Today was good stage for us, we don’t have any drama, any risk, anything. We managed without any problems, and we are quite happy. Tomorrow will be a really good road position for us, and we just try to push a little bit and to control. The most challenging thing now is when you slow down because you don’t know the pace. We need to accept what we have. We are here to do the job, and the Dacia Sandrider is a good car. »
CRISTINA GUTIÉRREZ (SPAIN), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « We started 36th. In the beginning we took a good rhythm. But suddenly we took a lot of dust from some competitors, and it was super-difficult to catch and overtake because it was super-fast the stage. We were behind one car for 80 kilometres. We are happy because when I arrived at the finish, I saw we arrived just after Nasser so it will be super-nice for tomorrow. If they have some problem we will be just behind to help. »
SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « Today was okay, some stony places but we went through without troubles, apart from a
puncture, so it was okay and the rest of the stage was quite fast. We had a good stage in our position on the road, we couldn’t do much better so I’m happy with the day. It’s always good to have a podium on the Dakar, it’s a long race and a tough race. We are fighting during two weeks and it would be nice to have a podium at the end, for sure. From the other side we are still not there, it’s still a complicated stage tomorrow, it seems to be rough so we will see. At the moment third overall is not too bad. »
LUCAS MORAES (BRAZIL), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a good day, a very fast day. I really enjoy to drive on this type of condition. Dennis and I did a good job on the navigation as well. Of course starting a little bit in front you always lose a bit. Until that point I think we were level with Seb and we were doing a proper stage together.
« I’m looking forward to tomorrow because tomorrow is a big day and we are starting from the back. »
DENNIS ZENZ (GERMANY), NAVIGATOR, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « A very good day for us. We adapted some things in our communication inside the car. It has been not easy the last couple of days but for sure we are a new team. It has been a very fast stage today, proper navigation, we did a good job. Unfortunately, we had a puncture eight kilometres before the finish. But, hey, here we are, we have a good road position for tomorrow and we keep pushing. »
DAKAR RALLY STAGE 11 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) – Bisha-Al Henakiyah
Stage distance: 346km Liaison distance: 536km Total distance: 882km
10th Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 2h55m42s
14th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), 2h57m49s
17th Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 3h00m09s
18th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), 3h02m18s
DAKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 11 (UNOFFICIAL)
1st Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 44h39m59s
3rd Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +18m37s
7th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), +37m01s
13th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +1h26m51s
DAKAR RALLY: THE BIG NUMBER
2: The Dacia Sandriders has gone from having one crew on the provisional podium to having two after Sébastien Loeb/Édouard Boulanger joined Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurqin in the current top three.
THE DAY AHEAD: STAGE 12, JANUARY 16
A varied route of fast, more winding and more narrow tracks for the 2026 Dakar Rally’s last big day also requires competitors to negotiate riverbeds and small sand dunes in the closing section before the day finishes back in Yanbu, where the event started with the Prologue on January 3.
Stage distance: 311km Liaison distance: 409km Total distance: 720km
Linda Hirvonen,