Dakar Rally result: Giniel de Villiers moves up standings after Stage 2

France’s nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb won the second stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Monday, a 338km drive from Ha’il to Qaisumah.

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The 47-year-old timed 3:28 faster than Qatar’s three-time Dakar Rally victor Nasser al-Attiyah.

Loeb remains in second spot overall but having reduced the overall gap between himself and Al-Attiyah to nine minutes and 16 seconds. 

“The route was good with clear visibility throughout,” said Loeb.

“At the end it became a World Rally Championship (WRC) special between two WRC drivers.

“I managed to claw back the difference little by little, without doubt because he (Al-Attiyah) had cleared the track.”

Dakar Rally standings: Giniel de Villiers up to fourth

South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers finished eighth on the stage, 11:17 behind, and moved up to fourth in the overall standings, 41 minutes and 22 seconds adrift.

Spain’s Joan Barreda Bort won the motorbike special with a 5:33 advantage over Britain’s Sam Sunderland.

The latter, though, had the consolation of taking the overall lead ahead of Adrien Van Beveren of France with overnight leader Australian Daniel Sanders dropping to third overall.

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