Loeb fights back as Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi claims outright victory in rally
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All in – Orly Terranova at the wheel of the Bahrain Raid Extreme Prodrive Hunter at Rally du Maroc. – Photo provided
Orly Terranova scores a dramatic final stage victory for Bahrain Raid Xtreme at today’s Rally du Marok after a tense battle with Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi in the final round of the World Rally Raid Championship Ta.
Partnering fellow Argentinian Bernardo Graue’s BRX Prodrive Hunter, Terra Nova wrapped up the event perfectly by taking victory from Toyota’s overall rally winner Al Rajhi on the 152km final stage.
With this stage victory, Terra Nova made a spectacular comeback after falling out of contention for the championship due to a suspension problem in the second leg, but had bounced back with a 2nd place finish in the previous stage.
Throughout the day there was little choice between the two pacesetters, with Terranova, who finished second in Morocco last year, ultimately finishing five seconds behind.
Sébastien Loeb also staged a fightback on the final leg in his BRX Prodrive Hunter, setting the fourth fastest time of the day alongside Fabien Lequin after yesterday’s painful exit from the stage with just 29 seconds to go from the rally top. did.
The final stage involved approximately 40km of driving through sand dunes. The battle for complete victory ended after just 28km, when Stéphane Peterhansel’s Audi, which had been 3 minutes and 49 seconds behind Al Rajhi, stopped overnight.
Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah also stopped on the sand dunes on the second day, but then restarted and finished 8th overall in his Toyota, winning the World Rally Raid Championship drivers’ title after winning the last three races. held.
At the finish, Terranova expressed his joy as follows: “I was feeling better every day. This victory means a lot to me. It was a great rally. I made one mistake, but overall it was fun.”
Al Rajhi took second place with a 34 minute 17 second lead over teammate Denis Krotov, while Nani Roma pulled off one of the big moves of the day to take third place overall.