Dakar Rally: Thrilling battle for victory 🎥
The second half of the Dakar Rally began with the death of a motorcycle rider. The three best riders in the field are battling it out for victory in the car category. On Sunday's seventh stage, which was preceded by the rest day in the capital Riyadh, Paulo Gonçalves crashed his Hero motorcycle on a fast, [...]
On Sunday's seventh stage, which was preceded by the rest day in the capital Riyadh, Paulo Gonçalves crashed his Hero motorcycle on a fast, sandy surface.
The 40-year-old Portuguese driver did not survive the crash on his 13th appearance in the toughest and most notorious cross-country rally. In 2015, Gonçalves was second overall behind Marc Coma, who is currently navigating Fernando Alonso through the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
At highway speed through the desert
With a horrendous average speed of over 136 km/h, Carlos Sainz in the X-raid Team's John Cooper Works Mini Buggy won the 546-kilometer special stage. His direct pursuers Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Hilux) and Stéphane Peterhansel in the second Mini Buggy also crossed the finish line in the order of the overall classification.
With his third stage win at the Dakar 2020, the Spaniard extended his lead over last year's winner Al-Attiyah from Qatar to exactly ten minutes and over 19 minutes on 13-time winner Peterhansel from France.
Which way is it going?
Due to the fatal accident of their comrade, the mourning motorcycle riders did not have to start the eighth stage of the day, a 477-kilometer loop around the Wadi Al-Dawasir oasis, the following day. This had a direct impact on the remaining 60 participants in the car category and the 26 trucks.
They usually follow the tracks of the motorcycles in front of them. As none of the front-runners were really sure of themselves in the open sandy desert, there was a small convoy, which meant that everyone lost some time.
The following highlights from Monday's stage show this:
Exclamation mark from Alonso
The day's victory thus went to French privateer Mathieu Serradori in a Century Buggy. He had already made a name for himself among the stars on the second stage, finishing fourth fastest.
In second place, Fernando Alonso in one of the four Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa cars scored another respectable success. If it wasn't for the two serious faults in the first week, the all-rounder would even be in the top 5!
As a result, the lead of his compatriot, two-time World Rally Champion and Dakar winner Carlos Sainz over Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has already won this competition three times, shrank to 6'40 minutes. Peterhansel also reduced his deficit by almost six minutes.
Dramatic decision in the last three days
On Tuesday, there was a break at the top of the classification. Sainz lost around six and a half minutes to stage winner Peterhansel over the 410 timed kilometers. As Al-Attiyah crossed the finish line just 15 seconds later than the Frenchman and thus took more than six minutes off leader Sainz, the two leaders were separated by just 24 seconds!
Considering the distance still to be covered to win the rally on Friday, this is nothing. On Wednesday, 534 kilometers on best time are on the agenda, on Thursday 379 and on the final day another 374. With a gap of only 6'38, Peterhansel's chances are still absolutely intact.
Live timing and daily TV highlights
The free sports channel Eurosport1 broadcasts a 30-minute report with German commentary every evening from 23:00 or 23:30. There will also be daily updates on the Eurosport homepage in German and on the Dakar Rally website in English and French as well as live timing.
eurosport.com/cross-country-rally/dakar
