The Dakar is on fire again. Well almost. The “new” Arabian Dakar is taking its toll on the competitors. Especially among the favoured drivers and navigators.
On Monday, 60km from the start, we saw the the experienced Romain Dumas exit the event after his Peugeot buggy caught fire. Dumas, a three time Le Mans winner and previous Pikes Peak Hill Climb champion and his navigator 3scaped injury when the jumped from the 4X4…
Today another equally experienced cross country and Dakar competitor, the Russian Vladimir Vasilyev’s , had to sit by and watch as his Mini is currently on fire after 284 km of the special. The Russian and his co-pilot are unhurt, but they are forced to drop out of the Dakar whilst in 9th place on the stage.
They were in ninth place on the stage when the car caught fire.
The Russian and his co-pilot are unhurt, but they are forced to drop out of the Dakar whilst in 9th place on the stage.
Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi has made a spectacular exit from the rally. As he was entering the neutralised zone with the 8th best time, the Emirati totalled his car by crashing and rolling several times, meaning his Dakar is finished.
Giniel de Villiers is struggling to keep with the pace after his victory on the second stage. The South African currently trails the stage leaders by almost 12 minutes. As for Vaidotas Zala, the winner of the first stage is 27 minutes behind!
Carlos Sainz still leads the car special after 352 km. However, the Mini driver is still under threat from his team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel, only 37 seconds behind. Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fernando Alonso round off the top 4.
Following a miserable stage yesterday and a time loss of more than 2 hours and 30 minutes, Fernando Alonso has gone on the attack on the loop around Neom. The Toyota driver is currently two minutes behind his team leader Nasser Al-Attiyah after 125 km, which is a fine performance from the ex-Formula 1 driver.
Ricky Brabec has won the third special with a lead of almost 10 minutes over his team-mate Jose Ignacio Cornejo. The American has been in imperial form throughout the day and has taken the lead in the general standings, whilst Joan Barreda has made it a 1-2-3 for Honda, 13 minutes behind the stage winner.
A number of bikers have withdrawn. Adrien van Beveren was taken to hospital with a broken shoulder and injured hip. Wessel Basson in the malle meule class is also out, whi;e Ross Branch yesterday’s stage winner hard a hard fall this morning after hitting a rock and is struggling on with an injured shouder.
Source: Andries van der Walt Rallystar