Carlos Sainz has extended his Dakar Rally lead by five minutes on an eighth stage on which Audi team-mates Mattias Ekstrom and Stephane Peterhansel finished one-two.
After Sebastien Loeb had won three of the past four stages and closed the gap to exactly 19 minutes, Sainz is now 24:47s to the good in the general classification having set the fourth-fastest time of the day.
The 458km special from Al Duwadimi to Ha’il was a stage in two parts, with drivers negotiating sand and dunes before a long transfer section and then rocky terrain.
Despite having to open the road, Loeb was fastest for some time in his Prodrive Hunter.
Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he lost his way around 390km into the special and had to turn around.
It was a mistake which saw Loeb plummet to 10th for the day, exactly 11 minutes slower than Ekstrom and, more importantly, 5:47s slower than Sainz.
He admitted, “We lost almost all that we gained yesterday,” but Sainz was circumspect about declaring mission accomplished.
“I think there’s still a long way for me and there are long stages to come,” said the rally leader.
“You can see how easy it is to lose five or 10 minutes on this race. It’s very stressful.”
There was also a blow for Loeb’s Prodrive stablemate, Nasser Al-Attiyah, whose hopes for outright victory were already over.
The five-time Dakar champion is now officially 87th in the general classification, more than 29 hours behind Sainz, having struck engine problems on Stage 8 and failed to complete the special.
Stage 9 runs from Ha’il to AlUla.
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General classification: Cars Top 10
| Pos | Num | Nat | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 204 | ESP | CARLOS SAINZ | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 33H 29′ 10” | |
| 2 | 203 | FRA | SEBASTIEN LOEB | BAHRAIN RAID XTREME | 33H 53′ 57” | + 00H 24′ 47” |
| 3 | 206 | BRA | LUCAS MORAES | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 34H 34′ 23” | + 01H 05′ 13” |
| 4 | 221 | BEL | GUILLAUME DE MEVIUS | OVERDRIVE RACING | 35H 03′ 28” | + 01H 34′ 18” |
| 5 | 209 | RSA | GINIEL DE VILLIERS | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 35H 14′ 22” | + 01H 45′ 12” |
| 6 | 211 | FRA | GUERLAIN CHICHERIT | OVERDRIVE RACING | 35H 25′ 47” | + 01H 56′ 37” |
| 7 | 208 | CZE | MARTIN PROKOP | ORLEN JIPOCAR TEAM | 35H 30′ 33” | + 02H 01′ 23” |
| 8 | 212 | FRA | MATHIEU SERRADORI | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 35H 32′ 25” | + 02H 03′ 15” |
| 9 | 243 | RSA | GUY DAVID BOTTERILL | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 35H 53′ 14” | + 02H 24′ 04” |
| 10 | 223 | LTU | BENEDIKTAS VANAGAS | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING BALTICS | 36H 03′ 34” | + 02H 34′ 24” |
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