The Spanish Carlos Sainz (Audi) finished this Friday the exhibition that began this Thursday at the ‘time 48 hours’ and, although he finished second in the sixth stage of the Dakar 2024, he dealt a great blow to the general classification, in which the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) lost his chances of repeating the title when he was stopped in the desert due to a mechanical problem .
The Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive) won the queen stage of the Dakar, a 48-hour time trial that crossed the Rub al-Jali desert, the largest sand desert in the world, and becomes together with the Swede Mattias Ekström (Audi) in Sainz’s great rival for the second week of the Dakar rally.
Thus, Sainz arrives on the rest day of the rally raid with 20 minutes and 21 seconds over Ekström and with 29 minutes and 31 seconds over Loeb, who achieved his twenty-fifth stage of the Dakar this Friday and who will seek in the second week of the rally to snatch first place from the Madrid native and get his first Touareg.
But the Madrid native gave a blow of authority to the rally. Last Wednesday he decided to lose more than eight minutes in the fifth stage to be able to start from the back on the sixth day of the rally and thus have the tracks of the drivers I had in the afternoon. It was a risky decision, which until this Friday he would not know if it would be “a mistake or a success”, but today he already knows that it was a great success.
It was the opposite strategy to Al-Attiyah, who won the fifth stage but had to open the track on Thursday, which It ended up taking its toll on the Qatari, going slower when going through untrodden sand and having navigation problems.
Al Rajhi and Al-Attiyah, out of combat
But if he had problems on Thursday, the situation even worsened on Friday for Al-Attiyah, who has two consecutive Dakars and was looking for another title. The Qatari was stopped for more than two hours fixing his vehicle, which he was stranded in the middle of the desert due to a mechanical problem, which makes him forget about being able to fight for the general classification.
The one who couldn’t even make it to the bivouac this Thursday was the Saudi Jazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing), who faced this sixth stage as the leader, nine minutes ahead of Al-Attiyah and eleven minutes ahead of Sainz. However, a tumble at kilometer 51 in the sand forced him to abandon this past Thursday.
Nor did Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (Audi) have much luck, who, unlike Sainz and Ekström, had a mechanical problem last Thursday at kilometer 225 and said goodbye to his chances of winning his fifteenth Dakar and culminating a spectacular race.
Sainz, to “continue spending days”
At the end of the stage, Sainz stated that he will look for “continue passing days without big mistakes” during the second week. The Madrid native stressed that this stage was “a difficult special”, but that they have “survived”, so they arrive “leaders on the rest day”, which is a good balance of the first week.”
Everything turned out for him in these two days that covered the sixth stage: he became the virtual leader of the general classification after the abandonment of Al Rajhi and, with his great pace throughout the entire day on Thursday, he took first place although virtually finished the day. Beyond luck, Sainz’s plan, who decided to lose time last Wednesday to go further back, went perfectly.
Thus, it will be difficult for both Ekström and Loeb to cut much time from an exultant Carlos Sainz, who was exhibited at this stage and he vindicated himself in his quest for his fourth Dakar. He has a week left, but he has it in his hand.
2024-01-12 07:21:12
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