By winning four specials in a row, Sébastien Loeb has demonstrated, as if it was necessary, that the nine times winner of the WRC has the talent and especially the desire to conquer his tenth world title in 2023. Barring a stroke of bad luck, Nasser Al Attiyah should continue to cautiously hurtle down the slide-like dunes of the Empty Quarter until the finish to secure his 5th triumph on the Dakar. Loeb is adopting a different strategy, involving attacking every day to seek the 5 points on offer from the W2RC to the stage winner. In virtual terms, if the two rivals remain in their current positions of 1st (50 points) and 2nd (40 points) in the classification for the first leg, when counting their points to help themselves get to sleep at the marathon bivouac, Sébastien Loeb will only have 3 less than his rival thanks to his performances on the specials. With 3 stages left to race, the Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver can let himself dream tonight. He could even take the stars out of the sky and leave the Dakar with more points in the championship than the winner of this leg, which would indeed be a first.
