Sebastien Loeb gave Bahrain Raid Xtreme another podium boost in the Rallye du Maroc today as the final round of the World Rally-Raid Championship once again delivered an epic desert battle.
Partnered by Fabian Lurquin in his BRX Prodrive Hunter, Loeb set the third fastest stage time for the third leg running, and climbed two places to second overall on another dramatic day when just 14 seconds separated the top three.
Swede Mattias Ekström in an Audi won the 336km third stage, which started and finished at the bivouac in Zagora, but he did it with only six seconds to spare from the Toyota of Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, who edged out Loeb by just eight seconds on the day.
At the end of another huge tussle between the world’s elite drivers, Loeb was 6 mins 16 secs away from rally leader Al Attiyah, and within reach of the third outright podium place in the championship.
The pace of the nine-time World Rally Champion in the BRX Prodrive Hunter saw him move ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who dropped to third overall, and also climb above Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard’s Audi had mechanical issues.
Orly Terranova and Bernardo Graue were unable to complete yesterday’s stage in their BRX Prodrive Hunter after damaging the suspension in hitting a big rock at speed. But the Argentine duo bounced back from that setback to set the seventh fastest time today.
Loeb had produced a remarkable performance in the Hunter to finish third fastest on the previous leg, despite losing power for a large part of the stage through an exhaust problem.
He will now be aiming to close the gap on Al Attiyah over the two remaining stages, knowing that, with just under 500km of competitive action ahead, the rally is far from over.
Today’s stage was another fast, long and demanding test, with only a handful of dunes to negotiate, but a variety of terrain to cover, including new sections added to the rally route for the first time.
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Nissan Formula E Team is excited to announce a four-year global partnership with Petromin Corporation, a leading mobility solutions provider in the Middle East. The partnership will be primarily focused on the company’s EV charging subsidiary, Electromin, as the business looks ahead to a wider adoption of electric mobility in the region.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE has been the fastest production car on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife since October 2022 and has been unrivalled ever since. The only rival is the ONE itself. Now Mercedes AMG brand ambassador and DTM driver Maro Engel has once again significantly improved the lap time he set. With an officially measured and notarised time of 6:29.090 minutes for the 20.832-kilometre track, the hypercar with Formula 1™ technology beat its own record for production vehicles by over five seconds. This makes the Mercedes AMG ONE the first road car to beat the magic mark of 6:30 minutes. It is also the only series hybrid hypercar to date to have taken on the world's most demanding racetrack and is the undisputed leader in the super-sports-car class. In order to achieve the lofty goals they had set for themselves, meticulous preparation was necessary. In addition, the track conditions had to be ideal in order to beat the 6:30 minute target. On September 23, 2024, at 6:56 p.m., on his third timed lap, Maro Engel achieved the new record. With temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius (air) and 20 degrees Celsius (asphalt), the legendary Nordschleife was dry throughout and offered perfect grip.
Like Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on their Formula 1™ race weekends, Maro Engel also had to make the best possible use of the hybrid drive's electrical energy. This is particularly challenging, especially with a track length of more than 20 kilometres. Therefore, it is immensely important to use the right sections of the track to recuperate during braking phases and thus store energy in the batteries again.
To do this, Maro Engel utilised the AMG ONE's four-stage Energy Flow Control (EFC) system and in some cases deliberately took his foot off the accelerator a little earlier than he normally would. In technical jargon, this is known as “lift and coast”. Preliminary tests in the driving simulator in Affalterbach and on the Nordschleife itself provided the necessary insights, which the team and driver were able to optimally implement for the record lap. In accordance with the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co KG, the vehicle was tested and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that it was in standard condition. A notary confirmed that the record drive had been carried out correctly.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 heads into this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) finale – the Petit Le Mans 10-hour race at Road Atlanta – deep in the hunt for its first major title.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has enjoyed a stellar debut season of international competition. The car recorded a historic victory in the centenary edition of the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in June, a first for the British ultraluxury sportscar brand in the modern GT era. It also achieved Aston Martin’s first ever Autobacs Super GT class victory in Japan in the same month. As well as this, Vantage has clinched class wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA, the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series and ADAC GT Masters through the summer.
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