Sebastien Loeb has made it three Dakar stage wins in a row on the latest special of the event as Nasser Al-Attiyah continues to lead by a big margin.

Prodrive Hunter pilot Loeb prevailed by 3:04s over Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom on Stage 10 although he is still just under 16 minutes behind second-placed Lucas Moraes in the overall Cars classification.

Overdrive Racing’s Moraes made ground on factory Toyota Hilux counterpart Al-Attiyah, but only 23 seconds, and if his gains continue at that rate then he would need 213 more stages to overturn the Qatari’s 1:21:34s lead.

The Haradh to Shaybah special was short at only 114km but full of dunes, yet that did not stop Loeb from going on a charge.

The Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver started first on the road by virtue of his Stage 9 result but was quickest all the way through, while Ekstrom eventually rose to second position.

Still, after his earlier troubles in the rally, the Swede is 25th overall having brought his deficit relative to Al-Attiyah back under seven hours.

Moraes finished the stage in third, 5:22s off the pace, with Al-Attiyah fourth on the day and Yazeed Al Rajhi fifth in another Overdrive Toyota.

Vaidotas Zala (Teltonika Racing) had been second-fastest on the day prior and looked like pulling off a repeat based on his time to the Kilometre 29 waypoint before his Hunter suffered a mechanical problem which cost him more than three-and-a-half hours.

The field will now spend two days in The Empty Quarter, with Marathon stage rules prohibiting external assistance.

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Overall classification: Cars Top 10