Home All Stories Quintero Dominates Dakar Rally Stage 4; Jones Hangs Onto SSV Class Lead

20220102DAK0267 A.S.O. E.Vargiolu DPPI — 303 Quintero Seth (usa), Zenz Dennis (ger), Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team, OT3 - 02, T3 FIA, W2RC, action during the Stage 2 of the Dakar Rally 2022 between Hail and Al Artawiya, on January 3rd 2022 in Al Artawiya, Saudi Arabia - Photo Eric Vargiolu / DPPI

Quintero Dominates Dakar Rally Stage 4; Jones Hangs Onto SSV Class Lead

January 5, 2022

After an early mechanical failure dashed his hopes for an overall Dakar Rally win, Seth Quintero’s push to show the world who really deserved the 2022 title continued with a dominant Stage 4 performance on Wednesday. On the longest special stage of the rally, a 465-kilometer route to Riyadh, Quintero’s winning time of 4:25:13 was nearly eight minutes faster than fellow Red Bull driver Guillaume De Mevius, the largest margin of victory for any class on the day.

Third in the division was EKS South Racing driver Chaleco Lopez, who extended the overall lead to 20:59 over teammate Sebastian Eriksson. The Red Bull GRC veteran finished fifth on the day, with fellow Red Bull driver, 2021 stage winner, and Extreme E driver Cristina Gutierrez between them. Third overall is Philippe Pinchedez, a distant 1:46:09 off the lead thanks in part to a seventh place finish today that was more than 42 minutes behind Quintero’s winning time.

20220103DAK0215 A.S.O. F. Gooden DPPI — #401 Jones Austin (usa), Gugelmin Gustavo (bra), Can-Am Factory South Racing, Can-Am XRS, T4 FIA SSV, Motul, action during the Stage 2 of the Dakar Rally 2022 between Hail and Al Artawiya, on January 3rd 2022 in Al Artawiya, Saudi Arabia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI

SSV class leader Austin Jones came within 10 seconds of making it an American sweep of both UTV divisions, finishing second to stage winner Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira in a much more closely fought battle. Stage 2 winner Michal Goczal completed the daily podium, with all three racers separated by just 49 seconds; Stage 3 winner Marek Goczal and Rokas Baciuska completed the top five. Jones’ overall lead is now up to 5:13 over Luppi, with Michal Goczal (+16:33), Gerard Farres (+27:26), and Baciuska (+43:52) still within an hour of the lead time.

2022 Dakar Rally Stage 4 winners were as follows:

Light Prototype: Seth Quintero (USA), 4:25:13
SSV: Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira (BRA), 4:44:05

20220103DAK0208 A.S.O. F. Gooden DPPI — #305 Lopez Contardo Francisco (chl), Latrach Vinagre Juan Pablo (chl), EKS – South Racing, Can-Am XRS, T3 FIA, action during the Stage 2 of the Dakar Rally 2022 between Hail and Al Artawiya, on January 3rd 2022 in Al Artawiya, Saudi Arabia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI

2022 Dakar Rally overall leaders after Stage 4 are as follows:

Light Prototype: Chaleco Lopez (CHL), 16:08:33
SSV: Austin Jones (USA), 16:38:08

The Dakar Rally continues tomorrow with Stage 5, one of two separate Riyadh loop stages, and 346 kilometers of special stage competition. Coverage of Stage 4 will air on the Olympic Channel tonight at 8PM ET, with extended highlights also streaming on NBC Sports digital platforms.