The 2024 regional Dakar: Lozerian Martin Bonnet once again at the top of the bill

Le sourire aux lèvres pour Bonnet et de Soultrait. Julien Delfosse – JULIEN DELFOSSE

Cinq jours après sa victoire sur le prologue SSV, le Lozérien a remis ça lors de l’étape 5 entre Al-Hofuf et Shubaytah.

Martin Bonnet had already seen his name at the top of the rankings during the SSV prologue of the Dakar, won with his driver Xavier de Soultrait. But some said that "it doesn" count in the statistics, because a prologue is not a stage strictly speaking, even if there is a timer and a ranking.

"A real moment of emotion",  for the drivers of the Sébastien Loeb Racing team, who also scored their first success. "We are also moving up in the general classification", underlines the duo, now 22 minutes behind the leaders. With seven more steps to come, anything remains possible.

The Aveyron duo Vayssade-Rey at the rendezvous

The SSV category remains the favorite terrain of the regionals since the Metge brothers, both co-drivers from Gard, finish at the forefront again (Adrien 2nd, Michael 4th).

The Aveyronnais Florian Vayssade and Nicolas Rey finally find a position that corresponds to their level (5th). In Ultimate, the best result is for the co-pilot of Saint-Affrique, Loïc Minaudier (14th). The Cévennes pilot Romain Dumas (21st), the Aveyron crew Jean-Rémy Bergounhe – Lionel Costes (22nd) and Gard co-pilot Valentin Sarreaud (29th) are in the top-30.

Regional results

Auto Ultimate: Serradori – Minaudier (Century) 14th, Dumas – Delfino (Rebellion) 21st, Bergounhe/Costes (MD) 22nd, Lavieille /Sarreaud (MD) 29th.

Auto SSV: De Soultrait/Bonnet (Loeb – Bardahl) 1st, Seaidan/A. Metge (MMP) 2nd, De Sadeleer/M. Metge (MMP) 3rd, Vayssade/Rey (Loeb – Bardahl) 5th.

Classic: Guy/Mauduit (Capôsud) 32nd.

Moto Rally2: Biau (VB x KRAYCo) 56th.

On a motorbike, Millau competitor Vincent Biau signs one of his best performances (56th) before diving into the heart of the Empty Quarter, the largest uninterrupted stretch of sand in the world .