– Joao Ferreira finishes sixth
– First trip to the « Empty Quarter » tomorrow
The ninth stage from Riyadh to Haradh also saw the X-raid Yamaha supported team finish in the top five, with Ricardo Porém and Augusto Sanz finishing fourth in the X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype. Their teammates Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro finished the day in a very good sixth place. Ahmed Alkuwari and Manuel Lucchese finished in 17th place. The two crews Camelia Liparoti / Xavier Blanco and Annett Fischer / Annie Seel finished 22nd and 24th.
For Porém, this year’s Dakar resembles a rollercoaster ride. A day with a good result is followed by a day full of problems. But today, the young Portuguese finally made it into the top 5. He was able to keep up with the times of the leading group right from the start and was rewarded with a fourth place. In the overall standings he is currently in 15th position. His compatriot Ferreira had to open today’s stage. Not an easy task in the dunes. Nevertheless, he finally secured sixth place.
Ignacio Casale and Alvaro Leon had bad luck: Problems with the electronics slowed them down. They had to settle for 27th place. They are still in tenth place in the overall standings.
Ricardo Porém: « Today was good, but unfortunately not perfect. From kilometre 170 we had problems with the brakes. Fortunately we didn’t have to stop, but we had to adjust the speed. »
Joao Ferreira: « Another great day! We were very cautious at the beginning because the dunes were not without danger. But afterwards we found our rhythm again and didn’t make any mistakes. »
Camelia Liparoti: « The first 50 kilometres in the dunes were fun. But the fast tracks later on are just not my thing. But I’m happy with the result. »
Annett Fischer: « The stage went fast today. Fast slopes and fast dunes. We had a lot of fun. However, there were a few nasty water crossings that unfortunately got us a bit wet. »
The tenth stage takes the competitors into the Empty Quarter for the first time in this edition. Dunes and sand are on the agenda. The stage was deliberately kept short at 114 kilometres, especially as 510 km of liaison route have to be completed.
Dakar Rally – result SS9
1. D. Zille / S. Cesana – Can-Am – 3h 38m 00s
2. G. de Mevius / F. Cazalet – OT3 – 3h 38m 02s
3. M. Guthrie / K. Walch – Can-Am – 3h 38m 12s
4. R. Porém / A. Sanz – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 3h 39m 57s
5. E. Basson / B. Pienaar – OT3 – 3h 40m 47s
6. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 3h 41m 10s…
17. A. Alkuwari / M. Lucchese – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 00m 16s
…22. C. Liparoti / X. Blanco – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 06m 05s…
24. A. Fischer / A. Seel – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 08m 20s…
27. I. Casale / A. Leon – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 23m 50s
Overall standings after SS9
1. G. de Mevius / F. Cazalet – OT3 – 39h 41m 11s
2. A. Jones / G. Gugelmin – Can-Am – 39h 53m 54s
3. S. Quintero / D. Zenz – Can-Am – 40h 54m 23s
4. F. Lopez / J. Latrach – Can-Am – 42h 27m 35s
5. C. Gutierrez / P. Moreno – Can-Am – 43h 00m 24s…
10. I. Casale / A. Leon – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 47h 15m 16s…
14. A. Fischer / A. Seel – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 50h 06m 17s
15. R. Porém / A. Sanz – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 50h 50m 24s…
18. A. Alkuwari / M. Lucchese – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 52h 52m 48s…
20. C. Liparoti / X. Blanco – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 53h 19m 08s…
36. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 84m 38m 01s