Sainz was never threatened in the 346km loop near Bisha since he grabbed the lead at the third waypoint from Overdrive’s Lucio Alvarez, the Spaniard successfully tackling the soft dunes towards the end of the stage en route to a comfortable 2m04s victory.
This was Sainz’s second stage win in the Dakar this year and the fourth for Audi’s new hybrid RS Q e-tron contender. The result marked the continuation of Audi’s strong run in the second week of the rally, with the German manufacturer having now won three of the five stages since the rest day on Saturday – with all its three drivers scoring one victory apiece.
Sainz’s former WRC teammate Sebastien Loeb emerged as his closest rival at the end of the day, the Frenchman putting on another solid performance in his Prodrive-run BRX to finish second.
Loeb gained just over four minutes on main rival Al-Attiyah, who had a subdued run to eighth in his factory Toyota Hilux – two places behind teammate Giniel de Villiers.
However,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – All – Stories…