Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and Spaniard Lucas Cruz won their second consecutive stage on the Dakar’s fourth special from Nazca to Arequipa yesterday. The hostile terrain kept some competitors busier for longer than they bargained for, with high-profile contenders such as Carlos Sainz and Robby Gordon now far down the overall order.
Al-Attiyah managed to remain out of trouble for the 288 km special stage, which comprised mostly of soft sand and dunes, as well as a serious rocky section right in the middle. Red Bull Qatar teammate Carlos Sainz wasn’t so lucky, losing three hours to overall leader Stephane Peterhansel’s Mini after more navigational errors.
“They were not easy dunes and it was very difficult to open the road, but we are so happy to finish today without any problems or mistakes, so I am really quite happy. Tomorrow I don’t think it will be difficult. Maybe we will lose a bit of time, but I think tomorrow it doesn’t matter if we lose a little or not because I will try and keep it tight until we cross into Chile. Chile will be good for our car. I’m so happy to be close to Peterhansel,” Al-Attiyah said yesterday.
Second to cross the finish yesterday were Frenchmen Guerlain Chicherit and Jean Pierre Garcin in their SMG buggy, 36 seconds off the lead, while compatriots Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret finished just under a minute further behind. South African Giniel de Villiers and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz were 4 minutes adrift in fourth. Spaniard Joan Roma and French co-driver Michel Perin rounded off the top five, 7 minutes and 27 seconds behind the leader.
De Villier’s Imperial Toyota teammates Duncan Vos and Rob Howie were unable to contest the stage as a result of a damaged roll-cage. The South Africans were involved in an accident while trying to pass a truck on stage three, and while they managed to finish, the Imperial Toyota team deemed the damage too critical for the pair to continue.
Americans Robby Gordon and Kellon Walch were also comtemplating retiring from this year’s raid after suffering another dent in their title hope when their Hummer rested on its roof during the stage. The pair is now just under six hours in arrears off the overall lead.
“We started off second and we got through some really gnarly, silty stuff. We went over a dune and it was just straight down with one right end to it. We idled into it just enough to tip us over the front, honestly, five miles an hour probably, it wasn’t a big rollover. Except it put all the weight of the vehicle on the front, broke the windshield and flopped it on its roof and we had to wait for new radiators to get to us. It was a long wait. It’s been a disappointing rally for us; we expected so much more,” Gordon admitted.
A half-hour Dakar highlights package will be screened on SuperSport2 (DStv channel 202) at 22:00 every day, with five repeats the following day, from January 5.
