WRC legend Sebastien Loeb takes Dakar Rally lead on second stage
Sebastien Loeb took the lead of his maiden Dakar Rally by winning the first full stage of the 2016 event on Monday

After Sunday's stage was cancelled due to poor weather, continued heavy rain meant the competitive element of Monday's run from Villa Carlos Paz to Termas de Rio Hondo was reduced from the planned 317 miles to 240.
Nine-time World Rally champion Loeb was quickest through every checkpoint and won the stage by 2m23s over Peugeot team-mate and event legend Stephane Peterhansel.
Loeb was stunned by the result as he was among several competitors to get stuck in the course's muddy sections.
"That was quite good news at the end because I didn't believe it," he said.
"I was stuck in the mud at the middle of the stage and was lucky to get out.
"I got stuck for maybe two minutes, something like that.
"At that moment I didn't believe I would get out like I did.
"Finally, I managed to join the field again and resume the stage, but it was really on the limit so I was a bit afraid.
"Apart from that, I had a good stage with no problems, trying to find a good rhythm and it was OK."
While two of the 2008 DKRs moved into first and second overall, another has already hit trouble.
Carlos Sainz lost over 10 minutes when he had to stop with engine problems, dropping him outside the overall top 10.
Also in trouble was 2014 winner Nani Roma, whose X-raid Mini became stuck in a muddy section halfway through the stage, costing him over three quarters of an hour to the leaders. Orlando Terranova and early third-place man Xevi Pons were similarly delayed.
Loeb's long-time WRC rival Mikko Hirvonen ended Monday as X-raid's lead runner in fifth, behind the Toyotas of Vladimir Vasilyev and Giniel de Villiers.
Last year's victor Nasser Al-Attiyah is four minutes off the pace in eighth in the next best Mini after a puncture, trailing the Toyota of Leroy Poulter and the third Peugeot of Cyril Despres.
WRC regular Martin Prokop and prologue pacesetter Bernhard Ten Brinke complete the early top 10.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER STAGE TWO:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastien Loeb | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 3h45m46.s |
2 | Stephane Peterhansel | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 2m23.s |
3 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa | Toyota | 3m01.s |
4 | Mikko Hirvonen | Axion X-Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 3m05.s |
5 | Leeroy Poulter | Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa | Toyota | 3m20.s |
6 | Vladimir Vasilyev | G-Energy Team | Toyota | 3m38.s |
7 | Cyril Despres | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 5m00.s |
8 | Bernhard Ten Brinke | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 5m02.s |
9 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Axion X-Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 5m18.s |
10 | Martin Prokop | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 5m25.s |
11 | Emiliano Spataro | Renault Duster Team | Renault | 6m48.s |
12 | Erik van Loon | Vanloon Racing | Mini/BMW | 7m10.s |
13 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa | Toyota | 10m52.s |
14 | Carlos Sainz | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 11m03.s |
15 | Adam Malysz | Orlen Team | Mini/BMW | 12m07.s |
16 | Jakub Przygonski | Orlen Team | Mini/BMW | 12m27.s |
17 | Harry Hunt | Axion X-Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 13m20.s |
18 | Guilherme Spinelli | Mitsubishi Petrobras | Mitsubishi | 13m48.s |
19 | Cristobal Nazareno Lopez | Team X-Raid Gmbh | Mini/BMW | 16m14.s |
20 | Robby Gordon | Team Speed Energy | HST/Chevrolet | 17m37.s |

First full stage of 2016 Dakar Rally cancelled due to weather
Sebastien Loeb extends Dakar Rally lead with second stage win

Latest news
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.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.