– Fourth stage win for Sainz
– Weather causes stage to be suspended after 345km
Poor weather forced the organisers to suspend stage ten, from Haradh to Shubaytah, after 345 kilometres. Strong wind prevented the helicopter from taking off. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (both ESP) in the MINI John Cooper Works Buggy were fastest at this point, and consequently picked up their fourth stage win of this year’s rally. Second place went to Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski (POL) and Timo Gottschalk (GER) in the MINI JCW Rally. Orlando ‘Orly’ Terranova and Bernardo ‘Ronnie’ Graue (both ARG) ended the stage in eighth place. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) and Paulo Fiuza (POR) were tenth.
Navigation was particularly tough in the first part of the special stage, and the early crews had problems finding the right route. Sainz and Przygonski came through without any major issues and made up a lot of time on the opposition. Sainz now has a lead of more than 18 minutes over second-placed Nasser Al-Attiyah. Although Peterhansel dropped time on his team-mates in the Bahrain JCW X-raid Team, he did manage to close the gap on Al-Attiyah and now trails the Qatari by just 16 seconds.
Sainz set the fastest times from the word go and benefitted from finding the correct route at a difficult waypoint later on in the stage. « The sandstorm meant visibility was initially limited and there were a few dangerous places, where you could easily have rolled, » said the Spaniard. « Otherwise, it was a very good day for us. »
Przygonski and Gottschalk are improving all the time. After yesterday’s second place, they finished an excellent second today. « That was far from an easy stage, with many steep dunes, » said the Pole. « We paced ourselves well, in order to be able to drive slowly over the crests of the dunes without getting stuck. We followed Carlos Sainz for a while and were able to match his pace. »
At first, it looked as though Peterhansel might end the day in the top three. However, they then lost a lot of time as a result of the difficult navigation. Despite this, it was still not a bad day for the Frenchman. « It was a tough stage with many difficult dunes, » said Peterhansel. « Together with Nasser and some other drivers, we went completely wrong a few kilometres before the neutralisation. In the end, however, it was a good day for my Bahrain JCW X-raid team-mate Carlos, who was able to pull further clear of Nasser, while we were able to close the gap on him. »
After the crews have spent the night without their team, they return to Haradh tomorrow. The eleventh leg begins with a 45-kilometre liaison stage, followed by 379 kilometres against the clock. The crews must then complete a further 320 kilometres to the bivouac.
Dakar Rally – Result SS10
1. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy – 2h 03m 43s
2. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) MINI JCW Rally – 2h 06m 48s
3. G. De Villiers (ZAF) / A. Haro (ESP) Toyota – 2h 08m 09s
4. P. Lachaume (FRA) / JM. Polato (FRA) Peugeot – 2h 09m 53s
5. Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Toyota – 2h 10m 13s…
8. O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI JCW Rally – 2h 11m 41s…
10. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / P. Fiuza (POR) MINI JCW Buggy – 2h 15m 31s…
13. Y. Seaidan (KSA) / A. Kuzmich (RUS) MINI JCW Rally – 2h 17m 36s…
19. V. Zala (LTU) / S. Jurgelenas (LTU) MINI JCW Rally – 2h 23m 22s…
21. D. Krotov (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) MINI JCW Rally – 2h 25m 12s…
25. A. Dorosinskiy (RUS) / O. Uperenko (LVA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 32m 08s…
Dakar Rally – Overall result after SS10
1. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy – 37h 15m 37s
2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 37h 33m 47s
3. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / P. Fiuza (POR) MINI JCW Buggy – 37h 34m 03s
4. Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Toyota – 37h 56m 23s
5. O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI JCW Rally – 38h 13m 16s…
9. Y. Seaidan (KSA) / A. Kuzmich (RUS) MINI JCW Rally – 40h 05m 05s…
15. A. Dorosinskiy (RUS) / O. Uperenko (LVA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 41h 57m 09s
16. V. Zala (LTU) / S. Jurgelenas (LTU) MINI JCW Rally – 42h 27m 32s…
19. D. Krotov (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) MINI JCW Rally – 44h 13m 09s…
23. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) MINI JCW Rally – 45h 44m 22s…
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