The convey contesting the 2023 Dakar Rally found themselves between a rock and a hard place on Stage Two. Over 400 kilometres against the clock brought competitors through a rock garden of dangerous boulders that never seemed to end. Finally, the finish line was found at the Alula bivouac but not before a full day of ultra-tough racing.
With two stages down, the car race looks to be shaping up as a battle royale between two of the rally’s biggest personalities. Three-time Dakar champion Carlos Sainz still leads the rally, despite losing five minutes to defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah on Stage Two. Al-Attiyah was quick to give credit to his co-driver Mathieu Baumel for guiding their Toyota Hilux T1+ through today’s tricky stage.
« We suffered one puncture today and we didn’t have any problems bigger than that, so we’re happy. Mathieu did a really good job with the navigation, it wasn’t easy today. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz maintain a lead of more than two minutes at the head of the race. The Audi RS Q e-tron E2 duo have had some classic desert duels with Al-Attiyah in the past and now we could see another chapter of that rivalry playing out on the stages to come.
« This stage was very demanding. It was difficult to keep the tyres alive amongst so many stones. We did get one puncture even though we were taking so much care. » – Carlos Sainz
Sainz’s fellow Team Audi Sport drivers Stéphane Peterhansel and Mattias Ekström were both more than 30 minutes behind stage winner Al-Attiyah today. The news was even worse for BRX Hunter driver Sébastien Loeb who forfeited over an hour to the race leader on Stage Two. It was no better for Kuba Przygoński who fell six hours behind the race lead on the way to Alula.
« It was not an easy stage and unfortunately for us after 40km we had two punctures. After that we had to do 390km without a spare tyre. It was just a question of survival. » – Stéphane Peterhansel
Still enjoying his debut Dakar experience is Brazilian rookie Lucas Moraes and his co-driver Timo Gottschalk. 11th place on today’s stage puts the Toyota duo in the same position in the general classification.
« I’ve only ever done two Dakar stages, but this one was definitely the toughest one I ever did in my life. » – Lucas Moraes
Tactical plans are already coming into play in the bike race. Daniel Sanders had the pace to win Stage Two, but felt he was better served by easing off the throttle at the end of the day. The Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing rider had no intention of opening the road for tomorrow’s 447km journey to Ha’il.
« I slowed down a bit because we already know that tomorrow is going to be another really tough day. I wasn’t after the stage win today. » – Daniel Sanders
Sanders now sits fifth in the overall bike standings, less than three minutes behind race leader Mason Klein. Also well in the mix are the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Toby Price and Kevin Benavides. Price is second overall after Stage Two while Benavides occupies fourth in the general classification.
« This day was really hard, maybe the hardest day that I ever raced here in Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t the longest stage at 450km, but it was nearly six hours of really hard riding. » – Kevin Benavides
Matthias Walkner joins his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mates inside the Top 10 with 12 stages left to race at this Dakar.
« It seemed like the most dangerous Dakar stage that I have ever raced. I’m feeling tired after such an intense day of riding. » – Matthias Walkner
Mitch Guthrie Jr. of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich delivered a first stage win for his T3-M by MCE5 vehicle. A T3 stage win turned out to be the perfect birthday present for Guthrie’s co-driver Kellon Walch.
« Kellon did great today with navigation and the car was awesome. It’s been two years since I raced the Dakar and I’ve had many ups and downs at this race. It’s only Stage Two, but getting the win is always nice. » – Mitch Guthrie
Guthrie’s team-mates Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz are in second overall, 8m43s behind T3 race leaders Chaleco López/Juan Pablo Latrach. Drivers Guillaume De Mevius, AJ Jones and Cristina Gutiérrez are also inside the T3 Top 10. Rokas Baciuška has slipped to sixth in the T4 leaderboard after a tough Stage Two on the stones.
Tomorrow points the convoy towards Ha’il via a timed special stage measuring 447km. There’s plenty more big boulders and steep canyons to navigate before the stage ends on the dunes. As well as keeping an eye on the roadbook, competitors can look out for some epic views of Nabataean temples on the horizon.
You’re receiving this newsletter because you’re subscribed to the Red Bull Desert Wings newsletter, our distribution service for inside stories covering our Red Bull rally-raid athletes.
Selected Overall Standings after Stage 2
T1 Car Class
1. Carlos Sainz (ESP) AUDI 08:34:26
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) TOYOTA +02:12
3. Mathieu Serradori (FRA) CENTURY +24:55…
5. Giniel De Villiers (ZAF) TOYOTA +26:38…
8. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) AUDI +36:08…
11. Lucas Moraes (BRA) TOYOTA +41:14…
15. Mattias Ekström (SWE) AUDI +48:11…
26. Sébastien Loeb (FRA) BRX +01:21:43…
119. Kuba Przygoński (POL) MINI +06:07:34…
T3 Lightweight Prototype
1. Chaleco López (CHL) CAN-AM 09:37:36
2. Seth Quintero (USA) CAN-AM +08:43
3. Guillaume De Mevius (BEL) OT3 +08:53
4. Mitch Guthrie Jr. (USA) MCE5 +09:52
5. AJ Jones (USA) CAN-AM +16:22
6. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) CAN-AM +41:08…
BIKES
1. Mason Klein (USA) KTM 09:38:28
2. Toby Price (AUS) KTM +01:41
3. Joan Barreda (ESP) HONDA +02:03
4. Kevin Benavides (ARG) KTM +02:25
5. Daniel Sanders (AUS) GASGAS +02:55…
9. Matthias Walkner (AUT) KTM +08:18…
21. Štefan Svitko (SVK) KTM +34:18…
29. Camille Chapelière (FRA) HUSQVARNA +58:30…
52. Mohammed Balooshi (ARE) HUSQVARNA +02:23:19…
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « It’s just the second day of this Dakar, but already it’s so, so tough. We suffered one puncture today and we didn’t have any problems bigger than that, so we’re happy. Mathieu did a really good job with the navigation, it wasn’t easy today. »
Carlos Sainz: « This stage was very demanding. It was difficult to keep the tyres alive amongst so many stones. We did get one puncture even though we were taking so much care. »
Giniel De Villiers: « That was a proper Dakar stage today. Lots of rocks, never ending rocks. We pushed in the morning until I got a puncture and then we took it a little carefully. Then when we started to push again we got another puncture. So we did the last 200km with no more spares. »
Stéphane Peterhansel: « It was not an easy stage and unfortunately for us after 40km we had two punctures. After that we had to do 390km without a spare tyre. It was just a question of survival. If we had got one more puncture we would have been waiting for the truck. So we drove slow to the finish. »
Mattias Ekström: « It was a very entertaining stage. We got too many punctures and had to fight to get to the finish. It was a tough day for us. »
Lucas Moraes: « I’ve only ever done two Dakar stages, but this one was definitely the toughest one I ever did in my life. We got a puncture after just 15km. It was only rocks today. We were just cruising to be honest. »
Toby Price: « We’ve basically been put through rivers and rocks all day. There was no way of carrying an average speed of 100kph today. If you wanted to get to the finish you had to take it a little easy. We’ve ended up racing for more than five hours, nearly six hours. »
Daniel Sanders: « It was a really big day today. I started off really well and had made a lot of time up by the first refill. Then I slowed down a bit because we already know that tomorrow is going to be another really tough day. I wasn’t after the stage win today. »
Matthias Walkner: « It was a super long day, more or less the whole time in big, big stones. It seemed like the most dangerous Dakar stage that I have ever raced. I’m feeling tired after such an intense day of riding. »
Kevin Benavides: « This day was really hard, maybe the hardest day that I ever raced here in Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t the longest stage at 450km, but it was nearly six hours of really hard riding. It was so tough on the hands and on the rest of the body. »
Camille Chapelière: « I was eating stones today, 99 percent of my day was spent in the stones! It was not my day today. I know I lost a lot of time. All I could manage was keeping myself on two wheels. »
Mitch Guthrie: « Kellon did great today with navigation and the car was awesome. It’s been two years since I raced the Dakar and I’ve had many ups and downs at this race. It’s only Stage Two, but getting the win is always nice. »