Nasser Al-Attiyah won the sixth stage on Friday, confirming himself as a great favorite for the final victory after the abandonment of his first pursuer, Stphane Peterhansel, and the accident of the Spanish
The sixth stage of the Dakar Rally was the dream for the reigning champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota), which already sees the path clear towards its fifth Dakar Rally.
Added to his victory was Audi’s nightmare with the accident that cost the Frenchman the abandonment Stphane Peterhansel -when he held a hand in hand with the sheikh- and the clash that has ended with the options of Carlos Sainzwhile in motorcycles the Argentinean debuts Luciano Benavides in a one-two for Husqvarna, with the Spanish Joan Barreda (Honda), fourth.
The 358km special between Ha’il and Riyadh, which was shortened by around 100km – it was to be the longest – left the Touareg within arm’s reach of Al-Attiyah. He alone can lose it. He has more than an hour advantage (1h06:50) in the general classification over another Toyota, that of the South African Henk Lategan.
The Japanese brand takes the top four positions. Behind Lategan are the Brazilian Lucas Moraes a 1h13:19 y Giniel de Villiers, this already at 1h44:38. Two minutes from the fourth Toyota sits the Audi of Mattias Ekstrom.
The defending champion opened the court after his victory on Thursday, but it did not faze him. I dominated the first 31 kilometers. It was already a declaration of intent. ‘Monsieur Dakar’ took the first position from him at kilometer 84, Sainz equal to Qatar. It seemed that there was a battle.
only 100 meters
The ‘Matador’ began to give up time and the Frenchman pushed when the stage had passed the equator. He then had 1:24 over Al-Attiyah and 3:01 over Sainz. Loeb lost 1:01 with Madrid and Saud Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota) clung to the podium, 24 seconds behind his brand partner.
From there, all possible setbacks and a great beneficiary: Al-Attiyah. Added to the accident that cost Peterhansel the abandonment was that of Sainz, both towards kilometer 212, with barely a hundred meters between them. Four kilometers later, Al Rajhi stopped with a mechanical problem. The stage and the Dakar cleared up for the champion.
After having opened the whole stage, regulating in the last kilometers, he put 3:29 to Loeb, 8:52 to the South African Henk Lategan (Toyota) and 9:12 to Chicherit in a stage that came out well since he now has 1h06 :50 lead overall.
motorcycle equality
After the prologue and six stages, no one has repeated motorcycle victory. The sixth was scored by Luciano Benavides, although initially the organization had given the American as the winner. Skyler Howes, who reinforced his lead in the general classification with his second position. Husqvarna double.
At the finish line, the South American led Howes by 1:03, who has a 3:32 lead overall over the Australian Toby Price (KTM), third in the stage after having benefited from a bonus of 1:36 for opening the track.
With just over 50 kilometers to go, the victory was hard fought. Howes remained in front with 16 seconds over Price, 25 over Cornejo and 40 over Argentine Luciano Benavides.
The Argentine bettered his teammate’s time at the finish line, although they had initially given the win to Howes, who also consolidated his lead. the spanish Joan Barreda, despite racing with a broken finger from the third stage and crashing in the fifth, finished fourth at just 2:33 (he is 10:54 behind overall). the salmantino Lorenzo Santolino take place at 7:52 am.
The Spanish Sandra Gomezwho was leading the women’s classification in Rally2, was unable to arrive on time at the start of the sixth special of the Dakar Rally and, consequently, was unable to participate.
In Original By Motul, the Spanish javi vega I lost 11:13 with the South African Charan Moore and gave up the lead, which he now has at 11:02.
Andjar en Quads
In quads, the Argentine Manuel Andjar He resisted and took his first scratch on the Dakar four minutes behind the Frenchman Alexandre Giroudwhich I put three minutes into Francisco Morenoto which he takes 42:57.
the belgian William of Mevius He reinforced his leadership in Proto Ligero in the sixth installment and has 8:59 over the North American Austin Jones.
Marek Goczal He won the sixth stage ahead of his brother Michal, with the podium of the Spanish Gerard Farrs, but in the general classification the Brazilian Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira dominates.
The Dutchman Mitchel van den Brink (Iveco), who is about to turn 21, took the truck special after beating his compatriot Janus van Kasteren (Iveco) by 35 seconds. Ales Loprais (Prague) lost almost 27 minutes and lost the lead by 37 seconds.
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