Action resumed after the rest day with an 873km stage, the longest of the second week, running from Riyadh to Al Duwadimi.

Through a 483km special which began in canyons before drivers tackled dunes, Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) gained 10:31s on Sainz to trail the Spaniard by exactly 19 minutes in the general classification with five stages to come.

Worse still for Team Audi Sport, it is now down to one contender, with a mechanical failure putting paid to Ekstrom’s chances of an overall victory.

With Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes 1:00:35s away from the lead in third place, the race for outright glory in Dakar 2024 is now down to two.

It was another factory Toyota Hilux driver, Seth Quintero, who was quickest all the way to the Kilometre 173 waypoint, before Moraes nosed in front at Kilometre 213.

Loeb was the road opener and had dropped three minutes in the first 39km but then started to claw back time and moved into a lead which he would not relinquish at Kilometre 311.

Mathieu Serradori (Century Racing) loomed as a threat, getting as close as 32 seconds away from Loeb, before he started to drift.

In the end it was Moraes who finished second on the day, albeit 7:06s behind Loeb, with Nasser Al-Attiyah third at another 2:41s off the pace in his Hunter and Sainz fourth in his RS Q e-tron.

Ekstrom started the stage strongly, reaching Kilometre 39 just 33 seconds off the pace, only for disaster to strike.

The Swede stopped just eight kilometres further into the special with a broken left-rear axle on his RS Q e-tron.

Stephane Peterhansel, who is now dedicated to supporting his Audi team-mates after his chances of overall victory were lost on Stage 6, initially stopped to assist.

However, it was decided to send him on his way in case Sainz also struck trouble, and Ekstrom had to wait for the support crew.

For Loeb, though, momentum is with him after the Frenchman won three of the past four stages and strategically incurred a penalty in the other.

“Ekstrom being eliminated was great… but there’s another one left,” he said.

“Gaining time on Carlos Sainz is good news.”

Stage 8, running from Al Duwadimi to Ha’il, features a 458km special comprised of sand and then stones.

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General classification: Cars Top 10