Loeb and Terranova get off to a solid start at Bahrain Raid Xtreme in Morocco as Al Attiyah moves closer to world title
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Sebastien Loeb’s Bahrain Raid Extreme Prodrive Hunter. – Photo provided
Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Sébastien Loeb and Orly Terranova played it safe in today’s Rally du Maroc as the final round of this year’s World Rally Raid Championship was carefully conducted.
Both BRX drivers are aiming for their second successive victory in the Prodrive Hunter event, with Swede Matthias Ekström setting the fastest time from Audi teammate Stephane Peterhansel in the 19km prologue. I was happy to play a supporting role.
Terranova and new Argentinian co-driver Bernardo Graue finished 10th on the day, while BRX teammates Loeb and Fabian Lequin were 11th fastest on the stage in their Prodrive Hunter, but it was a serious challenge. The battle begins tomorrow.
The restrained nature of the prologue meant that Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, on the verge of winning his second W2RC crown, finished 21st in the race ahead of five grueling desert stages that will decide the outcome of the rally and championship. Emphasized by the fact that the day ended.
Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who finished third that day in a Toyota, is the only driver who can prevent Al Attiyah from retaining the W2RC Drivers’ title. To do that, he needs to win the rally outright and finish near the top in each stage over the next five days.
Sebastien Loeb – Bahrain Raid Extreme Prodrive Hunter. – Photo provided
Loeb, a nine-time World Rally Champion, and Terra Nova, last year’s runner-up in the event, will race the BRX Prodrive against the Moroccan desert where Frenchman Guerlain Sichéry gave the car its first rally win 12 months ago. We want to emphasize the preferences of hunters.
Cisserit, now Al Rajhi’s Overdrive teammate, was fourth today, with two other Prodrive Hunters, driven by Brazilian brothers Christian Baumgart and Marcos Baumgart, finishing in the top ten.
The prologue saw 34 cars advance over fast, undulating sand as an appetizer, followed by five demanding desert stages.
The top 10 drivers then selected their starting positions for tomorrow’s 324km stage from Agadir to Zagora. The stage is the first of five grueling desert time trials over the 2,240km route, ending in Merzouga near the Algerian border on Wednesday.
It will be Loeb’s first W2RC appearance since the third round in Mexico in April, when Larcan broke his shoulder, but the French star has a number of other appearances in rallycross, Extreme E and rallying.
He is enjoying a return to form in the BRX Prodrive Hunter, which he won in Andalusia last year, and in January he set a new record with six consecutive Dakar Rally stage wins.