Sebastien Loeb says he will not take risks to catch Stephane Peterhansel for victory in the final stage of the 2017 Dakar Rally, as the gap is now too big to make up. The nine-time WRC champion entered the penultimate San Juan–Rio Cuarto stage 5m50s adrift of Peterhansel, and while he looked set to negate much of the reigning champion's advantage, a puncture in the second half of the test meant he could only claw back 18 seconds. “Today we pushed really hard in the first stage [before the neutralised zone], we could close the gap, we took nearly three minutes to Stephane,” said Loeb. “And in the second stage I had a puncture in the first corner, so we had to stop, change the wheel....
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