Stage report

Dakar Dakar

Dakar 2020, Stage 9: Al-Attiyah wipes out Sainz's lead

X-raid Mini driver Stephane Peterhansel recorded his third stage win of the 2020 Dakar Rally, as Nasser Al-Attiyah closed in on rally leader Carlos Sainz.

Valentin Khorounzhiy

Edited: Jan 14, 2020, 7:05 PM

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The three frontrunners of the 2020 marathon benefitted from an advantageous position in the running order for the 476km Wadi ad-Dawasir - Haradh stage, following their low-key finishes on Monday.

But whereas Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah took full advantage, clocking in first and second at nearly every waypoint, Sainz suffered a costly five-minute loss shortly after the 100-kilometre point.

And with Al-Attiyah just 15 seconds behind stage winner Peterhansel at the finish, the Toyota driver slashed Sainz's lead in the marathon down to less than a half a minute.

The gap between Sainz and third-placed Peterhansel, meanwhile, has been halved and now stands at 6m38s.

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Behind the battle for victory, Toyota driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and X-raid Mini's Orlando Terranova maintain a stranglehold on fourth and fifth respectively in the general classification.

Mathieu Serradori and Fernando Alonso, who made up a surprise top two in the previous stage, both had a more difficult Tuesday.

Serradori, first on the road in his Century buggy, surrendered almost half an hour relative to Peterhansel and has fallen back from the two Toyotas of Giniel de Villiers and Bernhard ten Brinke in the fight for sixth overall.

Alonso, meanwhile, was 13 minutes slower than Peterhansel, which was still enough for the two-time Formula 1 champion to move up to 10th place overall.

His next target is fellow Toyota driver and local hero Yasir Seaidan, but the Saudi is over 40 minutes up the road and was boosted by a strong showing on Tuesday, finishing third-fastest behind Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah.

The longest of the three remaining stages in Dakar 2020 will follow on Wednesday, with the 534km Haradh - Shubaytah test designated as the rally's so-called 'marathon stage'.

This means that competitors will not be able to receive assistance from their technical crews in the Shubaytah bivouac, and will instead have to make any necessary repairs by themselves.

General classification (top 10):

Pos. # Driver / Co-driver Car Time Gap 1 305

Spain Carlos Sainz

Spain Lucas Cruz

Mini 35h11m54s 2 300

Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah

France Mathieu Baumel

Toyota 35h12m18s 24s 3 302 France Stephane Peterhansel
Portugal Paulo Fiuza Mini 35h18m32s 6m38s 4 309

Saudi Arabia Yazeed Al-Rajhi

Russian Federation Konstantin Zhiltsov

Toyota 35h46m10s 34m16s 5 311

Argentina Orlando Terranova

Argentina Bernardo Graue

Mini 36h1m35s 49m41s 6 304

South Africa Giniel de Villiers

Spain Alex Haro

Toyota 36h9m51s 57m57s 7 307

Netherlands Bernhard ten Brinke

Belgium Tom Colsoul

Toyota 36h20m53s 1h8m59s 8 315

France Mathieu Serradori

Belgium Fabian Lurquin

Century 36h36m14s 1h24m20s 9 324

Saudi Arabia Yasir Seaidan

Russian Federation Alexy Kuzmich

Mini 37h47m29s 2h35m35s 10 310

Spain Fernando Alonso

Spain Marc Coma

Toyota 38h29m17s 3h17m23s

Trucks: Karginov stays the course

Kamaz driver Andrey Karginov won his fourth consecutive stage in the 2020 Dakar, extending his lead in the general standings.

Karginov now sits over 38 minutes clear of Anton Shibalov with three days of competition remaining, as Kamaz looks poised to wrap up a straightforward 1-2 finish.

Maz driver Siarhei Viazovich was just three minutes off Karginov's pace in the stage, but remains over half an hour down on Shibalov.

SxS: Currie completes USA 1-2-3

American racer Casey Currie took an important step towards securing the Dakar title in the SxS class, as he extended his lead in the overall classification.

Currie was third-fastest on the day, trailing only his two Red Bull-run compatriots Blade Hildebrand and Mitch Guthrie - who are both competing under the 'Dakar Expereince' ruleset and thus no longer feature in the general classification.

Crucially, Currie took several minutes out of reigning champion Francisco Lopez, who was left to open the road after Monday's stage winner Reinaldo Varela dropped off early on.

Currie now has 23m37s in hand over Lopez, with Karyakin in third place trailing the American by 41 minutes.

#405 South Racing - Can Am: Casey Currie, Sean Berriman

Photo by: A.S.O.

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