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Added on the 15/01/2019 08:59:45 - Copyright : Auto Moto EN
Stage 7 of the world’s toughest automotive race, the Dakar Rally, promised to be the harshest of the 2019 edition – and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The Dakar truly bared its teeth with a 323 km-long test that saw MINI’s Stephane Peterhansel (France) close the gap to Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel by 11:58.Despite the Frenchman’s victory on Stage 7, Al Attiya/Baumel still lead the rally in the overall standings, and have a buffer of 29:16 over Peterhansel. Nani Roma (Spain), in another MINI, is in third, 37:59 behind the Toyota Hilux crews. Sebastien Loeb, who had been on a charge over the last three stages, lost significant time due to electric problems in his Peugeot today, dropping down to fourth place in the standings as a result.This allowed the MINI brigade to catch up with the Toyota Hilux mid-way through the stage, and Al Attiyah planned to follow them through the dune section in order to help with his own navigation.
The Dakar Rally reached the halfway point with the dispute of the fifth stage. The second part of the marathon stage proved to be a particularly tactical affair with riders seeking to secure favourable attacking positions for the coming days. Ricky Brabec still holds the top spot in the general standings and Benavides is well-positioned to tackle the second part of the rally.
A sense of tranquillity now permeates the bivouac in Arequipa as the Dakar reaches its rest day. The riders, however, after a well-deserved morning rest and massage session, are now preparing for the next stage while the mechanics have spent the morning checking over the bikes ready for this afternoon.
Stage 2 brought major excitement early in the Dakar, thanks to a ding-dong battle amongst the leaders. In the end, however, it was Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot) who posted the fastest time, some 8 seconds faster than MINI’s Nani Roma. However, the biggest gains were made by Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (302) and Bernhard ten Brinke/Xavier Panseri (309).Ten Brinke/Panseri started the day in 8th position, but set about the task of completing the 342 km-long stage between Pisco and San Juan de Marcona with surgical precision. The Dutch driver brought his Toyota Hilux home just 01:20 behind the winner, moving into second position in the overall standings as a result.De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz, however, find themselves in the lead of the Dakar Rally after posting the 4th-fastest time on Stage 2, just 11 seconds behind teammates Ten Brinke/Panseri. This, together with their good performance on Stage 1, sees them topping the overall standings, 28 seconds ahead of Ten Brinke/Panseri in second place.Winners of Stage 1, Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel, finished Stage 2 in the tenth-fastest time after having to open the road. This turned out to be extremely tricky in the thick sand and fine dust, and the pair were happy to restrict their time loss to 07:37 on the day. On the flip-side this means they will be the tenth car on the road for Stage 3 – an ideal position from which to attack.
An animation of the fifth stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia: Al-Hofuf > Shubaytah.
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