Following Wednesday’s Stage 10, Prodrive/Bahrain driver Loeb faces a daunting 32m40s deficit to Al-Attiyah heading into the penultimate stage near Bisha on Thursday, leaving him with a very slim chance of adding a Dakar win to his nine World Rally Championship titles.
Loeb has been on the back foot since he dropped more than half an hour with a troubled Stage 3, hampered by a mechanical issue and two punctures. Navigational issues three stages later left him 50 minutes adrift of three-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah at the halfway point of the rally.
While Loeb has since clawed back some of the time with a run of strong performances, including a second stage victory on Sunday, time is running out for the 47-year-old to make significant inroads into Al-Attiyah’s advantage.
Loeb could only make up 1m35s on his rival in Wednesday’s 10th stage from Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha, as he ended up only fifth-fastest and two places behind Prodrive team-mate Orlando Terranova.
With just 510km…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Autosport.com – All – Stories…