Sébastien Loeb and navigator Édouard Boulanger won Rally-Raid Portugal for The Dacia Sandriders, moving to the top of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship standings in the process.
Racing in an environmentally smart and sustainable fuel-powered Dacia Sandrider, the French duo took the lead on stage 2 of the event, which crossed from Portugal to neighboring Spain on Thursday, and never looked back.
Making the most of their rugged, outdoor-focused Dacia Sandrider designed to withstand the toughest conditions, Loeb and Boulanger completed the 2,201-kilometer route with a winning margin of 2 minutes and 46 seconds.
Although mud and rain created difficult driving conditions, they took the top three places in four of the five stages with their outstanding performance. This helped Dacia Sandriders extend its lead in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship Constructors’ Championship after two rounds.
Team productions Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz completed Dacia Sandriders’ 20th and 21st FIA World Rally-Raid Championship stage victories by winning stage 3 and again stage 5 with the fastest time, finishing in fourth place.
Moraes, the current world champion and Rally-Raid Portugal champion in 2025, experienced drama at the five-day event but raced with great determination to achieve his best performance since joining The Dacia Sandriders in 2026. Moraes and Zenz, who started the final day from fifth place, rose to fourth place at the finish and were only 59 seconds behind the podium.
Fabian Lurquin, who heroically won the season-opening Dakar Rally for Nasser Al-Attiyah and the team, remains firmly in the title fight despite a technical issue. This forced them to retire in Stage 3. Following repairs, they restarted Stage 4 and completed the final deciding stage with the second fastest time, just three seconds behind teammates Moraes and Zenz.
Dacia Sandriders are now five-time winners in the World Rally Championship and unbeaten in three races, following the victory of Loeb and Boulanger in the 2025 Rallye du Maroc final and the success of Al-Attiyah and Lurquin in the 2026 Dakar Rally. Loeb’s victory was his third in the championship after winning the Andalucia Rally in 2022. Boulanger has won six wins since the championship started four years ago.
Stage 5, set around Loulé in Portugal’s Algarve region, featured an opening section of 98 kilometers through blind hills and steep valleys, followed by a 2-kilometer course on the narrow and winding course adjacent to the Estádio do Algarve, for a total route of 1,270 kilometers.
Automobile Magazine – English
