Dacia Sandriders Shine at Rally-raid Portugal With Wins
Dacia Sandriders delivered a Rally-Raid Portugal to remember with two stage wins and a podium for Sébastien Loeb and navigator Édouard Boulanger after five days of brutal, fast-paced competition in Portugal and across the border in Spain. The team showcased speed, teamwork and resilience throughout the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship round, boosting its W2RC title push and brand presence in cross-country rallying.
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin set the second fastest time on the final stage around Lisbon on Sunday, 28 September, and charged from seventh overnight to finish fifth. That result banked vital W2RC points in Al-Attiyah’s bid to win the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship two years running while keeping Dacia Sandriders in the hunt for the Manufacturers’ crown.
Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno began Stage 5 in fifth overall. A damaged tyre cost the Spanish duo significant time and dropped them to seventh in the final classification. Given this was their first outing since January’s Dakar Rally, their pace and consistency proved impressive and underlined the team’s depth.
Loeb’s podium marked his second in as many W2RC rounds and his first start with new navigator Boulanger. Boulanger had previously partnered with Al-Attiyah and swapped seats with Lurquin as Dacia Sandriders refined its lineup to maximise competitiveness. Early setbacks tested the crew, yet they responded with a Stage 3 win and rose to third overall on Saturday’s Stage 4.
Al-Attiyah opened Rally-Raid Portugal in style by winning Tuesday’s Prologue, but his charge faltered with time penalties, a rock strike and brake issues. Even so, he finished fifth and retained the W2RC lead by nine points with only next month’s Rallye du Maroc remaining. Dacia Sandriders sits second in the W2RC Manufacturers’ standings and continues to target stage wins and podiums.
Loeb also lost time when he clipped a tree on Stage 2 and damaged the Dacia Sandrider’s upper rear-right wishbone. He hit back to win Stage 3, the team’s 10th W2RC stage victory, then consolidated third overall on Stage 4 as Al-Attiyah set the quickest time. Gutiérrez and Moreno again played the perfect supporting role, stopping twice on Stage 2 to assist team-mates after separate incidents, before brake issues and tyre damage increased their total time. They still sealed a strong seventh.
Tiphanie Isnard, team principal of Dacia Sandriders, said: “Our first rally in Portugal was really tough terrain and, to be honest, we didn’t expect it to be so hard, especially on the brakes. I’m really proud of the team. They reacted really quickly to fix the issues and bring a good mindset. We had one of the best performances, with two stage wins and a wonderful top-five place for Cristina, so it’s a strong result for the team. Nasser is keeping the lead in the championship, and even when you don’t win a rally, you are learning a lot to come back stronger.”
Stage 5 started and finished in Lisbon, running at high speed through forest sections on a sandy but firm surface. After winning Stage 4 on Sunday, Al-Attiyah and Belgian navigator Lurquin opened the road over the final 103 timed kilometres. They looked set for a second-stage win, only to be denied late on by the final front-running pairing. Loeb and Boulanger followed their team-mates through to put the fourth quickest time and secure third overall, while Gutiérrez and Moreno slipped from a provisional fifth to seventh after tyre damage left them 18th on the day.
Nasser Al-Attiyah, Driver, Dacia Sandriders explained: “This was a challenging race, not easy, first time with our Dacia Sandrider here. We learned a lot, but if you look at the result, over the last two or three days, we have become firm. We are thrilled because we are leading the world championship, and we aim to maintain this position in the final round in Morocco. Well done to the team, because three cars were at the finish and this is really amazing.”
Cristina Gutiérrez, Driver, Dacia Sandriders, added: “Finally, we are happy to come back in the competition and come back with the team. For me, it was important to feel competitive again with all these people. We are happy with the tea; we finished in a good position, enjoyed the stages a lot, and have a good rhythm for the next races. We were also pleased to see the entire team working together, with the mechanics and engineers all sharing the same goal. The last stage was not very nice because we had a puncture and lost time, but we did a great job in all the stages and helped the team. We are very proud and congratulate everybody.”
Sébastien Loeb, Driver, Dacia Sandriders said: “It’s a good result. We made a little mistake on the second day; we broke a wishbone. Since then, we were 15 minutes behind, so it wasn't easy, and we didn’t know what we could expect. Since then, we had been driving really well; the car was working perfectly, so we could achieve some good times and catch up. Ultimately, we finish third overall, and a podium finish at the end of the rally is a commendable result. Today was about enjoying ourselves; there was nothing to look for in the front and nothing in the back, so we thoroughly enjoyed the stage today.
Édouard Boulanger, Navigator, Dacia Sandriders said: “It worked pretty well together with Seb, and it was actually terrific to start the cooperation in this race in Portugal because it’s probably the closest to what he was used to in the WRC. He requested more precision and accuracy in my workflow deliveries. It was a nice exercise for me to go in this direction before we go to Morocco in the open desert, where it should be the reverse, moof withstanding pressure and taking a close look at it in terms of navigation and the way to navigate. This first step together was excellent. We encountered a few issues on the stages that slowed us down, but the pace was manageable, and we were able to fight for the top positions. We won a stage together and were second and fourth. The feeling in the car was easy, and I’m absolutely confident in continuing this way together. I'm looking forward to Morocco, which is more of a cross-country event, whereas here it’s a mix of Baja and WRC. We cannot expect to have started in a better way, of course, we can expect to have a clean race, but that’s more important in Morocco. Throughout the week, the numbers told the story of Rally-Raid Portugal. On Stage 1 from Grândola to Grândola on 24 September, Prologue winners Al-Attiyah and Lurquin reached the finish second on the road before time penalties dropped them to eighth. Loeb and Boulanger left Grândola as the second Dacia Sandriders crew and returned sixth after fast, winding gravel and dirt tracks, losing time in dust when they caught a rival delayed by tyre damage. Gutiérrez and Moreno, starting their first W2RC event since the Dakar Rally, set off from 12th and ended the day ninth.
Stage 2 from Grândola to Badajoz on 25 September proved the most challenging. Gutiérrez and Moreno embodied teamwork by stopping to help both Al-Attiyah and Loeb. A rare error left Al-Attiyah on a large rock at the 200-kilometre mark until the Spanish duo towed him clear. Loeb and Boulanger parked after 57 kilometres with a broken upper rear-right wishbone after clipping a tree; Gutiérrez and Moreno helped replace the component in around ten minutes. After two stops to assist, plus brake issues and a late puncture, they reached the Badajoz bivouac in 12th.
Stage 3 on 26 September kept the rally in Spain and rewarded Dacia Sandriders as Loeb and Boulanger won the stage and climbed to fourth overall despite dust and a late tyre change after a rock strike. Al-Attiyah and Lurquin, the fastest to 35 kilometres, lost time due to brake problems and finished the day in 10th overall. Gutiérrez and Moreno rose from 12th to eighth despite their own brake issues.
Stage 4, from Badajoz to Lisbon, on 27 September, brought a commanding response. All three sustainable-fuel Dacia Sandriders entries set top-five times, with Al-Attiyah and Lurquin taking the stage win, Loeb and Boulanger second to move into third overall, and Gutiérrez and Moreno fifth to climb to fifth overnight. Al-Attiyah and Lurquin jumped from 10th to seventh, setting up the Lisbon finale.
On the final day, the Ultimate category stage from Lisboa to Lisboa covered 103 kilometres of timed action within a 287-kilometre itinerary. Al-Attiyah and Lurquin placed second in 1h00m42s, Loeb and Boulanger took fourth in 1h00m48s, and Gutiérrez and Moreno posted 1h04m38s for 18th on the day after tyre damage. In the W2RC drivers’ standings, Al-Attiyah leads on 140 points with Henk Lategan on 131 and Lucas Moraes on 130. Dacia Sandriders has now finished on the podium at three consecutive FIA World Rally-Raid Championship rounds after Loeb and Boulanger’s third place in Portugal, reinforcing momentum ahead of Rallye du Maroc.
What follows is essential to the championship narrative and for SEO visibility surrounding Rallye du Maroc and W2RC. The deciding round of the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship runs from 13 to 17 October after the Prologue on 12 October. The route starts in Fez and bases around the oasis town of Erfoud in the Sahara Desert, covering 2,998 kilometres with 1,477 kilometres timed. Dacia Sandriders targets strong stage results and a title-winning push as the team carries its Rally-Raid Portugal form into Morocco.
