We’re halfway through the Dakar Rally’s infamous 48-hour Chrono and tonight the convoy sleep out in the desert away from the bivouac. Stage 2 is a race within a race with a massive 1,000 kilometres to cover in two days before competitors return to Bisha. We’ve seen some big moves from the Red Bull Desert Wings across the categories on day one of the Chrono as the balance shifts towards risk and reward…
Five-time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah spent the day fighting for the lead at the front of the Ultimate class contest. The Qatari and his Saudi Arabian rival Yazeed Al Rajhi pushed each other for over 600 kilometres. At sunset on day one of the 48-hour Chrono it was Al Rajhi who held a lead of a little more than a minute over Al-Attiyah’s Dacia.
While one Dacia Sandrider is clearly in contention for the overall win, the news was not so good for Al-Attiyah’s team-mate Sébastien Loeb. The Frenchman came to a halt 409km into the stage and lost precious time. Loeb was assisted by the third Dacia driver Cristina Gutiérrez and the nine-time WRC winner got moving again.
There was also drama for M-Sport Ford, another high-profile debutant team contesting the Ultimate class. The Ford Raptor T1+ of defending Dakar champion Carlos Sainz flipped on the stage. Team-mate Mitch Guthrie Jr. was soon on the scene to help out and Sainz got going again. However, the damage sustained prevented the Spaniard from clawing back the time lost.
Despite a brief stop, Guthrie Jr. completed over 600km of the 48-hour Chrono today along with M-Sport Ford team-mates Nani Roma and Mattias Ekström. Ekström is currently third fastest on the stage behind Al Rajhi and Al-Attiyah.
Among the surprises on the first half of the 48-hour Chrono was the performance of Ultimate class rookie Toby Price. The two-time Dakar bike race champion got his teeth into the task along with co-driver Sam Sunderland. This duo set up camp tonight just 16m20s off the stage lead.
Giniel de Villiers and Guillaume De Mévius can also be satisfied with their day’s work, joining the frontrunners in covering over 600km. Also reaching the penultimate rest stop of the 48-hour Chrono were Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Lucas Moraes and Seth Quintero.
There was no 48-hour Chrono this year for Laia Sanz following yesterday’s crash. Although she brought her car back to the bivouac last night its rollcage was determined by FIA regulations to be too badly damaged to allow her to continue in her quest to finish her 15th consecutive Dakar.
« 70km from the end of the stage we hit a rock that we didn’t see because of the dust and we rolled over. It’s very annoying to have had such bad luck when we were going well and I thought it could be a good year. » – Laia Sanz
It’s been a dream start to the 47th Dakar Rally for Australian biker Daniel Sanders. After wins on the Prologue and Stage 1, Sanders was at it again on the first part of the 48-hour Chrono. After close to eight hours on the throttle, Sanders has put down the fastest time so far to maintain the overall lead of the bike race.
Sanders is joined in the provisional Top 10 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate Luciano Benavides. Elsewhere in the hunt comes Luciano’s older brother Kevin Benavides, rookie Edgar Canet and the experienced Mohammed Balooshi.
In the Challenger class it was a decisive day for a pair of Taurus T3 Max drivers as both Pau Navarro and Dania Akeel launched attacks. Navarro rose to fifth on his Challenger class debut while Akeel provisionally takes sixth place overall.
The 48-hour Chrono stage is like nothing the rookies of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team have ever experienced before. Gonçalo Guerreiro and Corbin Leaverton stood up to everything that was thrown at them in the dunes to come out in second and fourth place respectively in the overall Challenger contest.
It was a day to forget for Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López in the SSV race. The Chilean gave up nearly two hours to category leader Xavier De Soultrait on the sands surrounding Bisha.
Tomorrow sees the conclusion of the 48-hour Chrono. Tonight competitors sleep out in tents under the desert moon. Separated from their mechanics they must perform all repairs themselves. The frontrunners have over 300 kilometres further to race against the clock tomorrow before they return to Bisha and bring the curtain down on this year’s exhausting 48-hour Chrono Stage.
Selected Overnight Stage 2 Standings
ULTIMATE through 618km of 971km
1: Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (DEU) – Toyota 06:52:31
2: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia +01:08
3: Mattias Ekström (SWE) / Emil Bergkvist (SWE) – Ford +09:04
5: Rokas Baciuška (LTU) / Oriol Mena (ESP) – Toyota +10:23
7: Nani Roma (ESP) / Alex Haro (ESP) – Ford +13:52
9: Toby Price (AUS) / Sam Sunderland (GBR) – Toyota +16:15
10: Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) – Toyota +18:33
13: Guillaume De Mévius (BEL) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) – MINI +25:18
15: Mitch Guthrie Jr. (USA) / Kellon Walch (USA) – Ford +30:15
16: Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) – Toyota +31:53
17: Sébastien Loeb (FRA) / Fabian Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia +32:42
24: Seth Quintero (USA) / Dennis Zenz (DEU) – Toyota +47:23
25: Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Lucas Cruz (ESP) – Ford +55:38
27: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) / Pablo Moreno (ESP) – Dacia +01:20:19
CHALLENGER through 580km of 971km
1: Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG) / Valentina Pertegarini (ARG) – Taurus 07:10:14
3: Pau Navarro (ESP) / Lisandro Sisterna (ARG) – Taurus +6:27
4: Dania Akeel (SAU) / Stéphane Duplé (FRA) – Taurus +09:03
5: Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR) / Cadu Sachs (BRA) – Taurus +12:24
6: Corbin Leaverton (USA) / Taye Perry (DEU) – Taurus +12:45
SSV through 414km of 971km
1: Xavier De Soultrait (FRA) / Martin Bonnet (FRA) – Polaris 05:30:40
20: Francisco López (CHL) / Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) – CAN-AM +01:43:48
BIKE through 609km of 958km
1: Daniel Sanders (AUS) – KTM 07:41:56
7: Edgar Canet (ESP) – KTM +11:25
9: Luciano Benavides (ARG) – KTM +12:46
QUOTES
Laia Sanz: « We lost third gear at km 20, but we were getting through the day well, going slowly. Then, in the dust, all the navigation instruments stopped working, so we decided to take it easy to finish the stage. 70km from the end of the stage we hit a rock that we didn’t see because of the dust and we rolled over. I’m very sad, because we were going very well, even though things had happened to us today. It’s very annoying to have had such bad luck when we were going well and I thought it could be a good year. »