Stage 9 of the 2024 Dakar Rally saw Adrien Van Beveren and Sebastien Loeb take the stage win in their respective categories, while the defending champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah, faced more trouble with his Hunter, earning him a 40-hour penalty.
The ninth stage saw competitors start off on a windy morning, tackling the 639km route that consisted of 417km of times section. The route consisted of sand, rocks, and small plateaus, separating the leaders in each category. However, with three more stages to go, the leaderboard can flip any day.
Speaking of which, yesterday’s stage win for AVB has put him in third overall, just behind Hero’s Ross Branch. Yesterday’s runner-up was a 1-2-3 Honda finish, with Brabec finishing second and Nacho Cornejo finishing third. In the overall rankings, Brabec leads, with Branch just 7 minutes behind him.
In the cars category, nine-time WRC champion Loeb made a brilliant comeback after stage 8’s navigational errors. The Frenchman won’t the stage, making it his fourth stage victory this year, followed by WRC legend Carlos Sainz Sr and Mathieu Serradori in third, driving his two-wheel-drive Century through the line just 29 seconds behind Sainz.
In the overall standings, ‘El Matador’ Sainz still leads with a little over 20 minutes from Loeb, followed by Toyota’s Lucas Moraes in third, who has more than an hour to make up from the leader.
2024 Dakar Rally Stage 9 results
| Motorcycles | Rider | Team |
| 1 | Adrien Van Beveren | Honda |
| 2 | Ricky Brabec | Honda |
| 3 | Nacho Cornejo | Honda |
| Cars | Driver | Make |
| 1 | Sebastien Loeb | Prodrive |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz Sr | Audi |
| 3 | Mathieu Serradori | Century |
