Loeb and Boulanger land Portugal victory for the Dacia Sandriders

Sébastien Loeb and navigator,  Édouard Boulanger, have won Rally-Raid Portugal for The Dacia Sandriders, moving into the lead of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship standings in the process.

Competing in an eco-smart sustainably fuelled Dacia Sandrider, the French duo moved into the lead on Stage 2 on Thursday, when the event crossed from Portugal to neighbouring Spain, and never looked back.

Making the most of their robust and outdoor-oriented Dacia Sandrider, which has been engineered to withstand the most extreme conditions, Loeb and Boulanger completed the 2,201-kilometre route with a winning margin of 2m46s.

Even with mud and rain creating challenging driving conditions, they finished in the top three stage positions four times out of five on the back of an outstanding performance. This has helped The Dacia Sandriders increase its lead of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship for Manufacturers after two rounds.

Team-makes Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz finished in fourth position, having claimed The Dacia Sandriders’ 20th and 21st FIA World Rally-Raid Championship stage wins with the fastest time on Stage 3 and again on Stage 5.

Moraes, the reigning world champion and Rally-Raid Portugal winner in 2025, experienced his share of drama during the five-day event but drove with great determination to score his best result since joining The Dacia Sandriders for 2026. Starting the final day in fifth place, Moraes and Zenz moved up to fourth by the finish and ended up just 59s off the podium.

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin, who heroically won the season-opening Dakar Rally for the team, remain firmly in the title chase, despite a technical issue which was caused by the wet conditions. It forced them to retire on Stage 3. Following repairs, they restarted Stage 4 and completed the final deciding stage with the second fastest time, just three seconds down on team-mates Moraes and Zenz.

The Dacia Sandriders is now a five-time winner in the World-Rally Championship and unbeaten in three starts following Loeb and Boulanger’s victory on the 2025 Rallye du Maroc finale, and Al-Attiyah and Lurquin’s success on the 2026 Dakar Rally. Loeb’s victory was his third in the championship after he won the Andalucia Rally in 2022. Boulanger has now claimed six wins since the championship began four years ago.

Based around Loulé in Portugal’s Algarve region, Stage 5 featured a 98-kilometre opening section – complete with blind crests and steep ravines – ahead of 2-kilometre charge around a tight and twisty course adjacent to the Estádio do Algarve, which completed a total times route of 1,270 kilometres.

KEY QUOTES
Tiphanie Isnard, Team Principal, The Dacia Sandriders said: “It feels really good. Our objective was to be back together after a successful Dakar. The week was not easy, but I’m really happy that we were focussed on the victory and the championship. That was great. We had a strong race. Seb and Édouard won with a really strong result. Unfortunately, we had an issue with Nasser and Fabian, but we saw today that the pace is there. For Lucas and Dennis, it was also a great race, fourth and two stage wins, so I’m really happy with the performance of the team.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders added: “Rally-Raid Portugal is really not an easy race for everyone with these conditions. There is a lot of water. Except for Stage 3, when we stopped, it could have been a good result, top five, but, okay, at least today we take good points, we enjoy. We are so happy to have the lead of the Manufacturers’ championship, Seb wins and Lucas finished fourth, this is really good and for sure Argentina can also be good.”

Sébastien Loeb, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders said: “We had a good race. It was not easy, very difficult on these types of roads, very technical. With these Ultimate category cars, it’s really a challenge. But the feeling was really good, the Dacia Sandrider was working well for all of the rally. We score a lot of points and that’s the best we could expect. Another win for the team and the first one for us of the season. It’s looking good, the feeling with the car was great so I’m really happy. Today was a bit more in the stages that I remember from the past. For sure the memory was small because it’s a long time ago, but it’s an area I like, I have some good memories from Portugal, and to win again in Portugal is nice. I really enjoyed the rally, the stages are interesting, pushing like in WRC so it was really fun to drive all the week. It’s also the kind of terrain that I enjoy but we see the rivals are really strong, the young drivers are really fast on these kinds of stages. For sure I’m really happy to win this one and we take the lead of the championship. After the big score of Nasser on the Dakar, it’s not bad after the second race to be in the fight. Everything was perfect for me this week. Hopefully we can continue like this in the future.”

Lucas Moraes, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders commented: “As always, it’s very nice to come back here and race in front of such incredible fans in Portugal and Spain and to finish with a stage win again, we won two stages in this edition. Congratulations to the whole Dacia team and to Seb and Édouard who won the rally. To be honest, I’m really happy to finish on a high note like this, it gives us more motivation for Argentina next, where I hope we can do a good job as well. I am a little closer in points that I was after the second round in Abu Dhabi last year with these stage wins, so everything is still open in the championship with a long way to do. We’ve got to keep our head positive, let’s do it!”

Édouard Boulanger, Navigator, The Dacia Sandriders: “It was really good. We had a really intensive week, Seb delivered an amazing job from day one, super consistent. For sure it went super-well for us, just one puncture was the only thing we had during the whole week, so it was a strong week for all of us, for all of The Dacia Sandriders. We are happy with the victory and of course it’s a good taste after Dakar.”