After navigating over 2,000km of off-road terrain against the clock, the 2022 Dakar Rally has arrived at its midpoint Rest Day. At the conclusion of Stage 6 the Dakar convoy are afforded a day off before the world’s toughest race resumes on Sunday, January 9.
Holding a healthy lead in the car race at the halfway point of the rally is Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT). The Toyota Gazoo Racing man and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel (FRA) have barely put a foot wrong during the opening six stages.
« We’re finishing the first week of Dakar with a good lead. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Sébastien Loeb (FRA) has done everything he can to exert maximum pressure on Al-Attiyah in the first week of the Dakar. Unfortunately for the nine-time WRC winner he still trails the Qatari by over 50 minutes following Stage 6.
« We got lost after about 100km and that cost us quite a lot of time. After that we did everything we could to close the gap in front. » – Sébastien Loeb
Breathing down Loeb’s neck and looking to take his place on the overall podium is Kuba Przygonski (POL). The biker turned car driver has been inching up the general classification after a tricky start to the rally and now has momentum going into the second half.
« The last part of today’s stage was really nice. We were five cars together in the dunes, jumping and having fun. » – Kuba Przygonski
It’s been an eventful first week at the Dakar for Audi Sport and they have a stage win to celebrate thanks to Carlos Sainz (ESP). The team had the privilege of 14-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) playing the role of super-domestique on Stage 6.
« We started behind our two Audi team-mates, like a shadow with some spare parts. Then we saw Carlos with a broken shock absorber so we gave him a brand new part. Then we met Carlos again when he had lost a wheel so we stopped to help him get that changed. » – Stéphane Peterhansel
Today the bikes were racing on the 423km stage used by the cars and trucks yesterday. The four wheeled vehicles had churned up the terrain to such an extent that today’s bike stage was halted after 100km due to safety concerns.
The win on the shortened stage was claimed by Daniel Sanders (AUS) of GasGas Factory Racing, although it was not a perfect day for the biker placed third overall.
« There were a few riders who were complaining and wanting to stop the race because it was too dangerous. I disagreed with it, but the decision was taken to stop it. » – Daniel Sanders
Sanders is 5m35s back from his team-mate and race leader Sam Sunderland (GBR) in the general classification. Sandwiched between the GasGas riders is Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s lead man Matthias Walkner (AUS) in second overall.
« I feel healthy and motivated and it’s cool that we have the rest day tomorrow. » – Matthias Walkner
Camille Chapelière (FRA) has impressed during his second attempt at the Dakar and the French biker is currently third overall in the Rally 2 category. Elsewhere in the bike race Mohammed Balooshi (UAE) and Mohammad Jaffar (KWT) are flying the flag for the host region, the duo are placed 39th and 42nd overall respectively with six stages still to go.
Seth Quintero (USA) of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team finished the week just as he’d started it, by setting the fastest T3 time. It’s now five stage wins in six days for Quintero. The record for stage wins at a single Dakar is held by Pierre Lartigue (FRA) who won 10 stages at the 1994 edition, which was 17 stages long.
« A few kilometres after the refuelling we ended up losing the brakes. So we did the last 180km with absolutely no brakes. Somehow we managed and we might have even got the win, that’s nuts! » – Seth Quintero
Chaleco Lopez (CHI) takes his T3 overall lead into the Rest Day while Quintero’s team-mate Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) is up to third overall.
« Our only problem was one puncture close to the end. A smooth day like this helps to recover some energy for what’s still to come. » – Cristina Gutiérrez
It was another 1-2-3 stage result for Team Kamaz Master to wrap up an imperious week for the Russian truckers. Race leader Dmitry Sotnikov (RUS) extended his lead over team-mate Eduard Nikolaev (RUS) by nine seconds to ensure his overall advantage remains over 10 minutes.
« We hope to have good luck in the second week. » – Dmitry Sotnikov
There will be no racing tomorrow at the 2022 Dakar Rally as the convoy enjoy a well deserved Rest Day. Then there’s another 2,000km against the clock to be navigated in the second week of motorsports’ toughest test of endurance.
2022 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage 6
CAR RACE TOP 5
1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) – Toyota, 20:37:24
2. Y. Al Rajhi (SAU) – Toyota, +48:54
3. S. Loeb (FRA) – BRX, +50:25
4. L. Alavarez (ARG) – Toyota, +1:06:58
5. K. Przygonski (POL) – Buggy Mini, +1:16:25…
BIKE RACE TOP 5
1. S. Sunderland (GBR) – Gas-Gas, 19:55:59
2. M. Walkner (AUT) – KTM, +02:39
3. D. Sanders (AUS) Gas-Gas, +05:35
4. A. Van Beveren (FRA) – Yamaha, +07:43
5. P. Quintanilla (CHL) – Honda, +17:44…
TRUCK RACE TOP 5
1. D. Sotnikov (RUS) – KAMAZ, 22:25:45
2. E. Nikolaev (RUS) – KAMAZ, +10:29
3. A. Shibalov (RUS) – KAMAZ, +38:17
4. J. Van Kasteren (NLD) – IVECO, +1:04:54
5. A. Loprais (CZE) – PRAGA, +1:06:20…
LIGHTWEIGHT PROTOTYPE (T3) TOP 5
1. F. Lopez Contardo (CHL) – CAN-AM, 24:19:17
2. S. Eriksson (SWE) – CAN-AM, +23:09
3. C. Gutierrez (ESP) – OT3, +2:20:16
4. F. Alvarez (ESP) – CAN-AM, +2:25:22
5. P. Pinchedez (FRA) – CAN-AM, +2:30:24…
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « Today we tried to push from the beginning. Mathieu did good navigation and we drove all the way without any problems. We’re finishing the first week of Dakar with a good lead. »
Sébastien Loeb: « It was a complicated day. We got lost after about 100km and that cost us quite a lot of time. After that we did everything we could to close the gap in front. »
Kuba Przygoński: « It was a good day for us. In one place we got the navigation just right and that allowed us to overtake the guys in front. The last part was really nice. We were five cars together in the dunes, jumping and having fun. »
Stéphane Peterhansel: « We started behind our two Audi team-mates, like a shadow with some spare parts. Then we saw Carlos with a broken shock absorber so we gave him a brand new part. Then we met Carlos again when he had lost a wheel so we stopped to help him get that changed. »
Carlos Sainz: « We lost the rear damper again. After that we lost the wheel and then we had to stop. Not a good day for us. »
Mattias Ekström: « We had a small problem at the beginning, but after that we had a nice stage. We’re happy to finish the stage in second place because that’s big progress compared with yesterday. »
Giniel De Villiers: « It was a tricky stage. The visibility was really bad in the dunes so we all just followed Nasser. We had one puncture, but otherwise not a bad day. »
Laia Sanz: « We started really well. It was a pity to get a puncture in the last 100m of the hard terrain before the dunes. This cost us about five minutes because of a problem with the jack. »
Cyril Despres: « For the last 200km were driving without our top gears and then finally without the clutch. We stopped to make repairs and did what we had to do to make sure we came to the finish. »
Daniel Sanders: « There were a few riders who were complaining and wanting to stop the race because it was too dangerous. I disagreed with it, but the decision was taken to stop it. »
Sam Sunderland: « We were a little bit concerned before the start of Stage 6 because we knew the cars had done the same stage yesterday. The mix of the all the rain that has fallen and the cars and trucks going through the stage, it was like a minefield out there. »
Matthias Walkner: « It was nice but short day. It was very technical and physical riding and I enjoyed this a lot. It was dangerous so you always had to take care. I feel healthy and motivated and it’s cool that we have the rest day tomorrow. »
Toby Price: « It was quite a short stage in the end. We all had a feeling that it wasn’t going to work today following the cars and trucks. It was a really dangerous day and I think in the end they made the right call. »
Danilo Petrucci: « For the first time in my career I started first on a Dakar stage. It was maybe the most difficult stage I could have had as my first one to open. I had a bad crash and needed some stitches in my arm. Fortunately tomorrow is the Rest Day. »
Kevin Benavides: « Today was a day to take a little bit of care. I found a good rhythm but then they decided to stop the stage. I think it was a smart decision because the track was completely destroyed and very dangerous. »
Seth Quintero: « That was some of the scariest driving I’ve ever done. A few kilometres after the refuelling we ended up losing the brakes. So we did the last 180km with absolutely no brakes. Somehow we managed and we might have even got the win, that’s nuts! »
Cristina Gutiérrez: « The day was good, driving and navigation both perfect. Our only problem was one puncture close to the end. A smooth day like this helps to recover some energy for what’s still to come. »
Chaleco Lopez: « I needed to control my speed close to the end to avoid any big problems. We have our overall lead to protect going into the second week. »
Dmitry Sotnikov: « We’re happy to have the first half of the race finished. There was lots of rough ground, rocks and dust today. We tried to look after our tyres and do a good job with the navigation. We hope to have good luck in the second week. »
Eduard Nikolaev: « Quite a long day with a lot of rocks. We had to change one tyre. My co-driver coped with the navigation perfectly. The first week of this Dakar has been very fast. »