The Dacia Sandriders team enjoyed a Rally-Raid Portugal to remember with two stage wins and a podium finish for Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger
Nasser Al-Attiyah continues to top the World Rally-Raid Championship Drivers’ rankings, with just next month’s Rallye du Maroc to go
The Dacia Sandriders enjoyed a Rally-Raid Portugal to remember with two stage wins and a podium finish for Sébastien Loeb and navigator Édouard Boulanger following five days of tough but fast-paced competition in the host country and across the border in Spain.
After setting the second fastest time on the final stage around Lisbon today (Sunday 28 September), Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin charged up the leaderboard from seventh overnight to finish fifth. As a result, Al-Attiyah secured vital points in his bid to win the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) title two years running.
Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno started Stage 5 fifth in the overall ranking. However, a damaged tyre resulted in a significant time loss and left the Spanish pair seventh in the final classification. But having not competed since January’s Dakar Rally, the achievement was hugely impressive.
Loeb’s podium was his second in as many rounds of the W2RC and came on his first start alongside Boulanger, his new navigator. Boulanger previously partnered with Al-Attiyah, but swapped places with Lurquin as part of The Dacia Sandriders’ ongoing efforts to be as competitive as possible.
Al-Attiyah started Rally-Raid Portugal on a high with victory on Tuesday’s Prologue. However, his challenge would soon unravel due to the combination of extensive time penalties, getting stuck on a rock and brake issues. Nevertheless, his fifth-place finish means he continues to top the W2RC standings, albeit by a reduced margin of nine points, with just next month’s Rallye du Maroc remaining. The Dacia Sandriders holds second in the W2RC Manufacturers’ ranking.
Loeb also lost time during the event after he damaged his Dacia Sandrider’s upper rear-right wishbone by clipping a tree on Stage 2. However, he bounded back to win Stage 3, the 10th in the W2RC for The Dacia Sandriders, and climbed into third overall during Saturday’s Stage 4, which Al-Attiyah completed with the quickest time.
Just as they had done on the season-opening Dakar Rally, Gutiérrez and Moreno performed the ultimate supporting role by stopping twice to assist their team-mates Al-Attiyah and Loeb after they hit trouble in separate incidents on Stage 2. Brake issues and tyre damage increased their total time as they finished a strong seventh.
Tiphanie Isnard, team principal of The Dacia Sandriders, said: “Our first rally in Portugal, it was really tough terrain and, to be honest, we didn’t expect it to be so hard, especially on the brakes. I’m really proud of the team. They reacted really quickly to fix the issues and bring a good mindset. We had one of the best performances, with two stage wins, and a wonderful top five place for Cristina, so it’s a strong result for the team. Nasser is keeping the lead in the championship and even when you don’t win a rally, you are learning a lot to come back stronger.”
HOW THE FINAL STAGE VICTORY UNFOLDEDStarting and finishing in Lisbon, Stage 5 offered high-speed action in forest areas around the capital on a sandy but firm surface. After winning Stage 4 on Sunday, Al-Attiyah, from Qatar, and Belgian navigator Lurquin were first to tackle the final 103 timed kilometres.
Despite the hinderance of opening the road for the chasing competitors, the #200 Dacia Sandrider crew looked set to take their second stage win of the event, only to be denied by the final front-running pairing.
The all-French pairing of Loeb and Boulanger followed their team-mates through Stage 5, and set the fourth quickest time to secure third in the final ranking.
Spanish duo, Gutiérrez and Moreno started Stage 5 on course to finish fifth but dropped back to seventh after tyre damage restricted them to the 18th best time.
KEY QUOTESNasser Al-Attiyah, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders explained: “This was a really difficult race, not easy, first time with our Dacia Sandrider here. We learned a lot, but if you see the result, for the last two or three days we became very strong. We are so happy because we are leading the world championship, and we try to keep it like this in the final round in Morocco. Well done to the team, because three cars were at the finish and this is really amazing.”
Cristina Gutiérrez, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders, added: “Finally we are happy to come back in the competition and come back with the team. For me, it was important to feel competitive again with all these people. We are happy for the team, we finished in a good position, we enjoyed a lot during the stages, and we have a good rhythm for the next races. We were also happy to see all the team working together, the mechanics, the engineers with the same goal. The last stage was not very nice because we had a puncture and lost time, but we did a great job in all the stages and helped the team. We are very proud and congratulations to everybody.”
Sébastien Loeb, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders said: “It’s a good result. We made a little mistake on the second day; we broke a wishbone. Since then, we were 15 minutes behind, so it was difficult, and we didn’t know what we can expect. Since then, we were driving really well, the car was working perfectly, so we could do some good times and catch up. At the end, we are third overall and a podium at the end of the rally is a good result. Today was just to enjoy, it was nothing to look for in the front and nothing in the back, so we enjoyed the stage today.
Édouard Boulanger, Navigator, The Dacia Sandriders said: “It worked pretty well together with Seb, and it was actually really good to start the cooperation in this race in Portugal because it’s probably the closest to what he was used to in the WRC. He asked for more precision and more accuracy in my way to deliver the notes and it was a nice exercise for me to go in this direction before we go in Morocco in open desert where it should be reverse, more him going perhaps one step closer to me in terms of navigation and the way to navigate. This first step together was very good. We just had a few issues that slowed us down on the stages, but the pace was nice and we were able to fight for the top positions. We won a stage together and were second and fourth. The feeling in the car was easy and I’m absolutely confident to continue this way together and looking forward to Morocco, which is more of a cross-country event, whereas here it’s more a mix of a Baja and WRC. We cannot expect to have started in a better way, of course we can expect to have a clean race but that’s more important in Morocco.”
THE DACIA SANDRIDERS RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL KEY MOMENTSStage 1 (Grândola-Grândola, 24 September): Prologue winners Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin were all set to complete the first stage of Rally-Raid Portugal in second place before time penalties dropped them eighth. Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger were the second crew from The Dacia Sandriders to leave the start in Grândola and returned to the town in sixth after a day spent tackling mainly fast and winding gravel and dirt tracks. Although dust was less of a factor for the French pair initially, Loeb reported losing ground when he closed on a rival who’d been delayed by tyre damage.
Starting their first W2RC event since January’s Dakar Rally, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno set out from 12th on the road. Intent on building their experience and confidence onboard their sustainable-fuel Dacia Sandrider, the Spaniards were a strong ninth overnight ahead of their homecoming on Thursday.
Stage 2 (Grândola-Badajoz, 25 September): The Dacia Sandriders endured a challenging second day as Rally-Raid Portugal crossed over the border into neighbouring Spain. Cristina and navigator Pablo Moreno stopped to help their colleagues in a tremendous display of sporting behaviour and teamwork. Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin were among the early pacesetters. But a rare mistake left them stranded on a large rock at the 200-kilometre mark for several minutes before Gutiérrez and Moreno came to the rescue by towing them clear. Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger were forced to park up after 57 kilometres with a damaged upper rear-right wishbone caused by clipping a tree in their efforts to close on the leaders. Gutiérrez and Moreno helped them to replace the component before they could continue after a delay of approximately 10 minutes. By stopping twice to assist their teammates, Gutiérrez and Moreno reached the overnight bivouac in Badajoz, a city in their native Spain, in 12th position after brake issues and a damaged tyre in the final 30 kilometres cost them further time.
Stage 3 (Badajoz- Badajoz, 26 September): Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger gained in more ways than one for The Dacia Sandriders in Spain, taking the Stage 3 win to move up to fourth overall. The stage-winning performance came despite the #219 Dacia Sandrider being caught up in the dust of a rival driver and having to stop to change a damaged tyre 30 kilometres from the finish, caused by hitting a rock through a lack of visibility. While the event’s full day in Spain culminated in a 10th W2RC stage win for The Dacia Sandriders, there was frustration for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin. Fastest to reach 35 kilometres, their hopes faded when they began to lose time with a brake issue. They rounded out Stage 3 10th in the overall ranking. Meanwhile, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno climbed from 12th to eighth overall despite also experiencing brake problems in the challenging conditions.
Stage 4 (Badajoz-Lisboa, 27 September): The Dacia Sandriders made a triumphant return to Portugal by completing the penultimate day of action with the top two stage times. Starting out from the Spanish city of Badajoz, The Dacia Sandriders excelled with all three of its sustainable fuelled cars setting top five times in a highly impressive showing of speed and reliability. Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin charged to the stage victory. Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger were second quickest to move into third overall as Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno rounded out today’s top five ahead of the overnight halt in Lisbon. Gutiérrez and Moreno climbed from eighth to fifth, while Al-Attiyah and Lurquin rose from 10th to seventh.
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL STAGE 5 (SS6) ULTIMATE CATEGORY RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL)Lisboa-LisboaStage Distance: 103km | Liaison Distance: 184km | Total Distance: 287km
2nd: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 1h00m42s4th: Sébastien Loeb (FRA) / Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 1h00m48s18th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) / Pablo Moreno (ESP), 1h04m38s
WORLD RALLY-RAID CHAMPIONSHIP / TOP 3 DRIVERS’ STANDINGS1st: Nasser Al-Attiyah – 140 points2nd: Henk Lategan – 131 points3rd: Lucas Moraes – 130 points
RALLY-RAID PORTUGAL: THE BIG NUMBER3: The Dacia Sandriders has finished on the podium for three rounds of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship in a row following Loeb and Boulanger’s capture of the third place on Rally-Raid Portugal.
WHAT’S NEXT?Rallye du Maroc forms the deciding round of the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship from 13 – 17 October following the Prologue on 12 October. Starting in Fez and based around the oasis town of Erfoud in the Sahara Desert, the 26th running of the event covers a route of 2,998 kilometres of which 1,477 are timed.
