Sébastien Loeb wins the 3rd stage of the Rallye du Maroc, his first success aboard the Dacia Sandrider

The last big rehearsal before the 2025 Dakar is currently being held in Morocco and for Dacia, the stakes are high. The Romanian brand is entering its Sandrider in competition for the first time, the beast that Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah will pilot during the next Dakar.

The two men were finally able to compare their car with the rest of the peloton on the roads of Morocco and for now, the test is proving conclusive. After Nasser Al-Attiyah’s victory on Monday on the first stage, Sébastien Loeb reported a second success for Dacia this Wednesday on the 3rd stage.

Nasser Al-Attiyah heading towards the title

The nine-time world rally champion fought until the end of the 325 km stage with Guillaume de Mevius, finally arriving 19 seconds behind. The Belgian, surprising 2nd in the last Dakar with Toyota, left the Japanese firm not without noise to join Mini, with whom he is making notable first steps. He retains second place overall, almost 5 minutes behind Nasser Al-Attiyah.

The Qatari managed his day and finished 4th in the stage behind Carlos Sainz, outgoing winner of the Dakar, who is driving an experimental Ford vehicle, which does not make him eligible for the general classification. Al-Attiyah is moving a little closer to a third consecutive world rally raid title, which he should in all likelihood win at the end of the Morocco Rally, the final round of the season.

Her last opponent, the Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Overdrive) is 5th in the ranking, 25 minutes behind. The five-time winner of the Dakar is regaining confidence after a difficult 2024 edition of the most famous rally in the world, during which he encountered many reliability concerns at the wheel of the Prodrive Hunter. Now, behind the wheel of the Sandrider, the troubles that had irritated him so much seem to be history.

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