Sainz gets lost in the Dakar and gives up two hours

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  • Al-Attiyah comes out as the winner in the first great sailing stage of the test, which also takes Peterhansel’s options

  • Sanders dominates again on motorcycles and Barreda is left more than half an hour

At first, Carlos Sainz (Audi) practically said goodbye this Sunday to its chances of winning the Dakar. The Madrid driver and his co-driver, Lucas Cruz, They got lost during the first stage (334 timed kilometers) and more than two hours were left regarding Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota). After contacting the prologue, the rain Nightfall in Ha’il turned the day, extremely demanding when it comes to navigation, in a trap that wreaked havoc on motorcycles and cars.

The penultimate checkpoint, at kilometer 280, was a scuffle for many drivers, including a Carlos Sainz that could be seen through Audi GPS circling in search of the good track. Al-Attiyah took it and also Sebastien loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme), who had started 12 minutes earlier but the move of letting himself be caught and followed by the great favorite went well. Sainz missed a detour to the left that Al-Attiyah did sense. Czech Martin Prokop He had already crossed the finish line in third position while Sainz, who said he was “very disappointed”, was still looking for that sixth reference. He entered the 47th of 52.

“Or are we all dumb …”

“We have not been able to. Neither I nor many people have understood what was happening. How many people have been lost there? Either we are all very stupid or, well & mldr; there are many Dakar already; I’m very disappointed. If the Dakar wants to do it like this, and that on the second day of the race what happened happens, it’s a shame“, he commented upon arriving at the camp after losing 2 hours 6 minutes and 55 seconds on the second day of competition. Last year, ‘el Matador’ had already complained about how complex it is in recent editions to interpret crosses and directions with the new philosophy imposed by David Castera, Dakar director.

Was a day to forget at Audi. In addition to the two hours lost by Sainz, who did not give many details about the performance of his hybrid car (“little by little”), the Swede Mattias Ekstrom he was also lost, although he gave slightly less, 1 hour and 22 minutes. But worse it was for the French Stephane Peterhansel, winner of the Dakar 14 times (six in motorcycles and eight in cars), which broke the rear suspension of his car at kilometer 153 of the special, when he was in second position of the day, and had to wait to be assisted.

The debutante Carlos Checa He was the best Spanish (23rd at 1: 10.36), something better than Isidre Esteve (26th with a car adapted to 1: 16.15). Nani Roma, also with navigation problems, it was left 1: 18.34 (30º) and Laia sanz entered 31st at 1: 21.47.

Sanders dominates on motorcycles

The austrian Daniel Sanders (Gas Gas) was a mirror of Al-Attityah in cars. Winner (like the Qatari) of the prologue, he passed with the best time through the first control point and did not miss until the goal, which gives an advantage in the general of 3 minutes and 7 seconds over the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Sling). On the other hand, the current winner of the test, the Argentine Kevin Benavides, and the Valencian Joan Barreda they got lost on the way to the fifth ‘waypoint’ and gave up more than half an hour. “I made a loop of several kilometers, I passed several times through the same point and I even got to fear for gasoline to reach the end. With the reference of other pilots who arrived I was able to find it,” explained Barreda.

The Salamanca Lorenzo Santolino He finished fifth and is now the best Spaniard in the category (7th to 16.54).

Related news

Marathon stage canceled due to rains

The Dakar organization decided this Sunday to cancel the marathon, which was to take place after the second and third stages starting this Monday, due to the heavy rains that have hit Ha’il and much of northern Saudi Arabia. “Due to flooding at Al Artawiyah bivouac caused by heavy storms and rain, we are forced to move the end of stage 2 to Al Qaisumah bivouac. There will be no marathon bivouac,” the organization said. The timed part (special) remains unchanged, remaining at 338 kilometers, but the link for the second stage is yet to be determined. Thus, the 44th edition of the Dakar is left without one of its emblems, such as the marathon stage in which the participants could not count on any help from their team and which was scheduled very soon for 2022, between the third and fourth day of competition. .



Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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