The Dacia Sandriders has completed the penultimate day of Rally-Raid Portugal with Sébastien Loeb and navigator Édouard Boulanger holding an extended advantage of 2m30s in their pursuit of more FIA World Rally-Raid Championship glory.
Starting one position behind team-mates Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz, the winners of Stage 3 on Friday, Loeb/Boulanger excelled once again to complete Saturday’s challenging timed route from Spain back to Portugal second quickest – just 17 seconds off the pace – despite their high running order.
With 98 kilometres against the clock remaining tomorrow (Sunday), Loeb/Boulanger are firmly in contention for their second FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) victory driving a sustainable-fuelled Dacia Sandrider, following on from their Rallye du Maroc success last October.
They began the penultimate day of Rally-Raid Portugal leading by 1m27s and gradually edged ahead of their closest rivals, an impressive achievement given the slippery conditions they encountered. And they will start the deciding loop stage around Loulé in the knowledge that they won’t have to open the road, which will serve as a further boost to their chances of winning round two of the W2RC season for back-to-back victories for The Dacia Sandriders after Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin triumphed on January’s Dakar Rally.
Starting today in the unenviable position of opening the road, Moraes/Zenz had been set to maintain their podium place but lost ground after they were forced to change a damaged tyre.
They were restricted to the sixth quickest time and dropped from third to fifth in the overall standings as a result, 5m02s behind their event-leading team-mates. While a second Rally-Raid Portugal victory for world champion Moraes is highly unlikely, a podium finish is not out of reach.
Restarting this morning following their Stage 3 retirement due to a technical issue, championship leaders Al-Attiyah/Lurquin were back on form today, registering the fifth fastest time for more important W2RC points.
Following a detailed inspection at the bivouac in Badajoz last night, an electrical fault, caused by the wet conditions during the stage, was identified and repaired. Not since the Dakar Rally in 2025 had a Dacia Sandrider been unable to complete a stage of a W2RC event for non-accident-related reasons, such is the car’s strong reliability.
The route back to Portugal from Spain at the start of the fourth day of Rally-Raid Portugal, which was characterised by rough terrain and narrow passages, mirrored the 2025 edition in parts although the further south toward the town of Loulé the event headed, the more it became less familiar, with the Algarve region hosting the action for the first time.
KEY QUOTES
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « The stage was quite tricky, not easy. Okay, we don’t take any risks, we try to finish after yesterday’s stop. But it looks like this rally is not easy for us, we try to get a good rhythm even for tomorrow, the last day, just to see. »
SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a long and difficult day, the stage was really complicated with a lot of grip changing and rhythm changing. Some places there was a lot of water, big rivers and a lot of mud also, so really tricky. But I had a good rhythm and a good feeling with my Dacia Sandrider. I could push all the stage, and I tried to push hard because I didn’t know the times of the other guys like Seth Quintero, so I needed to be fast to not let him take too much time. At the end it’s a good stage, second fastest time and increasing a bit the lead, so it’s a good position at the moment. »
LUCAS MORAES (BRAZIL), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a very tough stage to open, for sure I wouldn’t choose this one. We had some issues with the pace, and it was really tough to read the terrain. I made some small mistakes with the driving, so I need to improve on that. But, overall, we are here and we’re still looking for the podium, just one minute out of it. Tomorrow is still 100 kilometres to go, we’ll give our best coming a bit from the back, we’ll see if we can push hard and go for the podium. »
ÉDOUARD BOULANGER (FRANCE), NAVIGATOR, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was very good for us, we did a strong day today with good navigation. No mistakes at all and Seb mastered the stage like he is used to do in Portugal. For us a really good day, of course we cannot know the gaps between the different cars, so we’re just doing the best we can. A bit cautious because it was super-slippery again, a lot of mud, it was super-tricky and easy to make mistakes and get punctures. We pushed but with a bit of margin not to make any mistakes and it worked. »
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL STAGE 4 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) – Badajoz (Spain)-Loulé (Portugal)
Stage distance: 315km Liaison distance: 322km Total distance: 637km
2. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 2h44m55s
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 2h46m20s
6. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), 2h48m23s
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 4 (UNOFFICIAL)
1. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 9h55m19s
5. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), +5m02s
20. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), +18h19m26s
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL: THE BIG NUMBER
2m30s: Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger will start the deciding day of Rally-Raid Portugal, round two of the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship leading by 2m30s after they finished Stage 4 with the second quickest time.
THE DAY AHEAD: STAGE 5, MARCH 22
Crews leave the bivouac in Loulé for the fifth and final stage of Rally-Raid Portugal 2026. The route for the closing day takes inspiration from the 2006 Dakar Rally, which started in Portugal.
That means hard ground over hills rather than flat plains.
Stage distance: 98km Liaison distance: 155km Total distance: 253km
Linda Hirvonen,