If the first week of the Dakar was not easy, the first kilometers of the second seemed to start on the same basis. While he was in second place in the general classification this Sunday morning, Mattias Ekström (Audi) lost everything from km 47 and his 20’21” delay over his teammate Carlos Sainz was transformed into several hours.
The Swede saw his title hopes dashed following the broken rear axle of his Audi RS Q-etron. Confined to the role of luxury teammate since his misadventure in the Empty Quarter, Stéphane Peterhansel stopped for a moment to help him, before leaving in case Carlos Sainz also encountered mechanical problems over the 483 km of special. Ekström and his co-pilot Emil Bergkvist should therefore remain stuck for several hours in the Saudi desert.
The setbacks of the Swedish duo are the business of Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive), third overall 29’31” behind Sainz before the start of this 7th stage and now launched into a long-distance duel with the Spanish veteran (61 years old).
