Dakar: Triumph for Peterhansel and Mini 🎥
SOUVEREIGNER RISE The second week in Saudi Arabia did not bring any more upheavals at the top of the standings. "Mister Dakar" Stéphane Peterhansel won in the Mini Buggy ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah on Toyota. The short video from X-Raid shows the plan of the completed stages and scenes of Peterhansel and Sainz from the first Dakar week in Saudi Arabia. The Frenchman started [...]
The short video from X-Raid shows the plan of the completed stages as well as scenes of Peterhansel and Sainz from the first Dakar week in Saudi Arabia.
The Frenchman started to the overall seventh and first stage of the second rally week in Saudi Arabia with a lead of 6:53 minutes over the Qatari after the rest day of January 9. At the end of Sunday, which brought the first victory of Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi and his German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz on one of the four Toyota Hilux from South Africa, Stéphane Peterhansel had increased it by another two minutes.
Different vehicle concepts
Nasser Al-Attiyah decided the second part of this marathon stage in his favor the other day, reducing the gap to the leader to 5:50 minutes.
The Arab explained that with the all-wheel drive and heavier Toyota V8, he felt he was at a distinct disadvantage in this terrain compared to the lighter and more maneuverable rear-wheel drive Mini JCW diesel buggies, so he was glad to have a car intact.
Tire damage at the chaser
The preliminary decision was made on Tuesday on the 465-kilometer loop around the bivouac in Neom on the Red Sea. Al-Attiyah, who was attacking, suffered three punctures and therefore had to reduce his pace in the absence of another spare wheel in order to reach the stage finish without losing a huge amount of time. With a twelve-minute gap to Peterhansel, the gap was large enough anyway.
Rewarded restraint
"Mister Dakar" and his new navigator Edouard Boulanger, who brilliantly guided him through the entire competition, deliberately did not go full attack from the start to minimize the risk of tire damage. They were rewarded for this strategy with the first stage win in the 2021 Dakar Rally.
On the third-last stage Nasser Al-Attiyah, in second place behind Toyota team-mate Al Rajhi, who won for the second time, nibbled only about 50 seconds off the almost 18-minute gap to Peterhansel, who was third on the day.
Failed final attack
Nevertheless, the winner of the Dakar Rally 2011, 2015 and 2019 (both in South America) has not yet given up. On Thursday, January 14, the 464-kilometer queen stage with gravel roads, scree sections and dune crossings awaited the remaining participants.
The challenger stressed that although the 17-minute difference was large, it could ideally be made up in this key stage. However, the most popular rally driver from the Arab Emirates was unable to topple the leaders from their throne despite setting the fastest time, just as he did on the shorter final stage on January 15. The former VW works driver and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel (F) therefore had to settle for the place of honor, as they did last year.
For Stéphane Peterhansel, who like his co-driver Edouard Boulanger lives in Switzerland, this means the 14th triumph on two (6) and four (8) wheels since his first participation in 1998 on Yamaha. The German team X-Raid from Trebur celebrated for the sixth time with self-developed BMW and Mini technology.
Third place for Carlos Sainz
Last year's winner Carlos Sainz, already 40:39 minutes behind his X-Raid team-mate Peterhansel at the halfway point, could only consider himself to have a theoretical chance of winning the race.
When the father of the GP driver of the same name (from 2021 with Ferrari) even lost 22:30 minutes on the ninth stage due to irreparable brake problems, the Spaniard and his co-driver Lucas Cruz were only concerned with damage limitation, i.e. saving third place overall. Sainz consolidated this position with his third fastest time of the day on the final day of the Dakar 2021.
Out for Swiss duo
The only Swiss pairing, Alexandre Pesci and Dr. Stephan Kühni, did not make it to the finish. The successful industrialist and team owner of Rebellion Racing and the dentist from Lausanne, who was employed as a navigator as in the previous year, retired after eight stages due to mechanical problems with their Rebellion RD Buggy. Until then, the duo had been in 43rd position.
All info on the Internet
The classemente of all categories can be found like further information (in French and English) on the informative homepage of the organization A.S.O.. Everything worth knowing about the course of the 2021 Dakar Rally from the perspective of the winning team can be found on the X-Raid website in German.
All the highlights of the individual daily stages can also be viewed on the Dakar Rally's YouTube channel.
