Loeb is the champion of the fourth stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

Bahrain's Red Xtreme's French driver Sébastien Loeb won the fourth stage of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge today, boosting his quest for the World Cup for Desert Rallies title.

Loeb and his co-driver Fabian Lorkin in the Bahrain Red Extreme Team Prodrive Hunter collected the most championship points today by winning the penultimate stage of the rally by 6 minutes and 59 seconds over South Africa's Hendricks Latigan in a Toyota.

Nasser Al Attiyah was knocked out of the action last night after a major accident in the third stage, meaning Loeb will be guaranteed to take the lead in the 2023 World Cup for Desert Rallies when the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is completed tomorrow.

If the nine-time World Rally Champion achieves another victory in the final stage tomorrow, he will have a 16-point advantage over the Qatari before heading on to the third round of the championship in April in Mexico, followed by the rounds of Argentina and Morocco.

Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi, the third fastest time of the day in his Toyota, was nine minutes behind Loeb, and Loeb currently leads the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge by 10 minutes and 27 seconds from 2018 Rally winner Martin Prokop in a Ford Raptor, with Denis Krotov in a Mini in third overall on the podium.

The start of the fourth stage was delayed by two hours due to thick fog today, which shortened the stage, which was the longest in the rally, to 173 km instead of 308 km for cars. The final stage is 206 km long and leads to the end of the rally in Abu Dhabi tomorrow afternoon.