Dakar 2022, Stage 10: Peterhansel leads Audi 1-2, Loeb beats Al-Attiyah
Stephane Peterhansel scored Audi’s third stage victory of the 2022 Dakar Rally on Wednesday, as Sebastien Loeb gained more time on overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah by finishing fifth.
Peterhansel had been in fine form all day in the 375km test near Wadi Ad Dawasir, one of the fastest stages of the rally, running a close second to team-mate Carlos Sainz early on before grabbing the lead at the third waypoint.
Once out in front, the 14-time Dakar winner steadily extended his advantage over the chasing pack, eventually sealing victory in Stage 10 by 2m06s over Sainz.
This was Peterhansel’s maiden stage victory of Dakar 2022 and ensures that all three Audi drivers have now won a stage this year, following Sainz’s triumph on the third test and Ekstrom’s success on Monday.
Prodrive (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) driver Orlando Terranova ended up as the closest challengers to the leading two Audis, jumping the Toyota of Henk Lategan right at the end to secure his best result since winning Stage 6 last week.
Lategan eventually finished 12 seconds behind Terranova having held the third spot for much of the day, but still ended up as the best finisher for Toyota with Al-Attiyah only seventh and yesterday’s stage winner Giniel de Villiers down in 12th.
WRC legend Loeb fell as low as eighth in his Prodrive entry but rebounded strongly to finish fifth, crucially 1m35s and two places ahead of his title rival Al-Attiyah.
#201 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Matthieu Baumel
Photo by: A.S.O.
Following his first-ever Dakar stage victory on Tuesday, Ekstrom had a low-key day as he dropped just over 10 minutes to his winning team-mate Peterhansel, finishing 11th.
In the overall standings, Al-Attiyah takes a reduced lead of 32m40s going into the final two stages towards Bisha and Jeddah. This follows a five-minute penalty for the Qatari driver for a seat belt infringement that was recorded in Monday’s Stage 8 but not acted upon until the following day.
Al Rajhi sits someway behind the leading duo in third, while Terranova strengthened his fourth position in the overall standings ahead of Jakub Przygonski (X-raid Mini) and de Villiers.
Mechanical troubles for Martin Prokop have promoted Ekstrom to 10th place in the general classification.
| Pos. | #. | Name | Mark | Time | Gap | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 201 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | TOYOTA | 33:13:37 | 00:05:00 | |
| 2 | 211 | Sebastien Loeb | PRODRIVE | 33:46:17 | +00:32:40 | 00:00:00 |
| 3 | 205 | Yazeed Al Rajhi | TOYOTA | 34:09:25 | +00:55:48 | 00:00:35 |
| 4 | 221 | Orlando Terranova | PRODRIVE | 34:42:55 | +01:29:18 | 00:12:00 |
| 5 | 207 | Jakub Przygonski | MINI | 34:59:19 | +01:45:42 | 00:05:00 |
| 6 | 212 | Giniel de Villiers | TOYOTA | 35:44:00 | +02:30:23 | 00:15:00 |
| 7 | 224 | Vladimir Vasilyev | BMW | 35:56:23 | +02:42:46 | 00:17:00 |
| 8 | 202 | Sebastian Halpern | MINI | 36:58:17 | +03:44:40 | 00:17:00 |
| 9 | 230 | Mathieu Serradori | CENTURY | 36:58:48 | +03:45:11 | 00:19:00 |
| 10 | 217 | Mattias Ekstrom | AUDI | 37:57:45 | +04:44:08 | 00:17:00 |
Related video
The positive future implications of Audi's creditable Dakar debut
Loeb 'cannot do more' to catch Dakar leader Al-Attiyah
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
The positive future implications of Audi's creditable Dakar debut
OPINION: Audi has been a disruptive presence on the 2022 Dakar Rally, with its new hybrid RS Q e-tron taking three stage wins so far. Its impressive pace and resilience on one of the world’s toughest tests also bodes well for the Dakar’s future as it seeks to attract new manufacturers
How Prodrive plans to use trial by Dakar to spur it to victory
Having tasted plenty of success in the World Rally Championship in the past, Prodrive took its off-road excursions to a new level with its first Dakar Rally entry this year. Now well-versed in the challenges that the famous rally-raid event possesses, Prodrive can learn from those lessons for next year's tilt at Dakar honours
Why Loeb has joined forces with an old enemy for Dakar
The nine-time World Rally champion is heading to the Dakar Rally with an all-new project, and is joining up with the team he often fought against in the WRC - Prodrive - in his quest to finally add the most famed rally raid of them all to his bulging CV
Richards on Prodrive's new Dakar challenge
With a stunning success record in motorsport, Prodrive is targeting a new crown by entering the 2021 Dakar Rally. David Richards provides an update on the programme, how COVID has slowed its plans and its options on who sits behind the wheel of its new car
Why Alonso is already exceeding expectations in Dakar bid
How significant was Fernando Alonso's first cross-country rallying podium on a Saudi Arabian event last weekend? Very. The next leg of his post-F1 quest for versatile glory is going very well so far...
What Alonso learned from his best Dakar test yet
Double Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso took on one of his biggest challenges yet in the five-day Dakar warm-up event, Rally Morocco. Alonso gives his thoughts on his progress in a "bittersweet" event, and whether he will contest the Dakar
Why Alonso must heed Loeb's Dakar failures
Fernando Alonso is edging closer to a Dakar debut, but he should take heed of the lessons rallying legend Sebastien Loeb has learned through several near-misses, despite his promising performances at the event
Why Loeb cannot be allowed to give up on Dakar
Sebastien Loeb has been the fastest man on the Dakar Rally since he first appeared on the legendary event, but he's still not won it after four dramatic attempts. That story cannot end here
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.