Peterhansel in lead at Dakar stage 9 - news 12.01.2021: Dakar Rally 2021 Stage 9 from Neom > Neom Tuesday, January 12th 2021 13:06 Serradori closes in Mathieu Serradori is only ten seconds behind Stéphane Peterhansel after 198 km. The two Frencman lead third placed Yazeed Al Rajhi by 3’30’’. Giniel D

Dakar Rally 2021
Stage 9 from Neom > Neom
Tuesday, January 12th 2021


13:06 Serradori closes in

Mathieu Serradori is only ten seconds behind Stéphane Peterhansel after 198 km. The two Frencman lead third placed Yazeed Al Rajhi by 3’30’’. Giniel De Villiers occupies fourth place, more than five minutes behind the stage leader.




Standings after 271 km
       

302   
S. PETERHANSEL FRA
    X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM    09:51:00= (3)    00:00:06= (3)    00:00:00▲ (1)    00:00:00= (1)    00:00:00= (1)    00:00:00= (1)    00:00:00= (1)    00:00:00= (1)    00:00:00= (1)    -    -    -    -    -
       

301   
N. AL-ATTIYAH QAT
    TOYOTA GAZOO RACING    09:45:00= (1)    00:00:00= (1)    00:00:08▼ (2)    00:00:07= (2)    00:00:48= (2)    00:05:43▼ (4)    00:05:29▼ (5)    00:05:36▲ (4)    00:10:20▲ (2)    -    -    -    -    -
       

307   
J. PRZYGONSKI POL
    ORLEN TEAM/OVERDRIVE    10:00:00= (6)    00:02:10▼ (14)    00:03:01▲ (9)    00:03:27= (9)    00:05:11= (9)    00:06:02▲ (6)    00:05:40= (6)    00:06:24= (6)    00:11:23▲ (3)    -    -    -    -    -
       

312   
M. PROKOP CZE
    BENZINA ORLEN TEAM    10:09:00= (9)    00:00:46▲ (6)    00:01:56= (6)    00:02:37▼ (7)    00:04:23▲ (5)    00:07:24▼ (10)    00:07:40▲ (9)    00:09:31▲ (8)    00:12:02▲ (4)    -    -    -    -    -
       

310   
SK. AL QASSIMI ARE
    ABU DHABI RACING    09:54:00= (4)    00:00:56▼ (7)    00:01:37▲ (4)    00:01:42▲ (3)    00:11:33▼ (27)    00:12:55▲ (21)    00:12:59▲ (17)    00:14:40▲ (15)    00:15:16▲ (5)    -    -    -    -    -
       

314   
C. DESPRES FRA
    ABU DHABI RACING    09:57:00= (5)    00:05:43▼ (46)    00:07:35▲ (36)    00:07:55▲ (24)    00:10:23▲ (20)    00:11:53▲ (18)    00:12:42▲ (16)    00:14:13▲ (14)    00:16:46▲ (6)    -    -    -    -    -
       

300   
C. SAINZ ESP
    X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM    09:48:00= (2)    00:00:04= (2)    00:00:10▼ (3)    00:02:31▼ (5)    00:05:07▼ (8)    00:21:19▼ (42)    00:22:06▲ (29)    00:22:42▲ (19)    00:21:11▲ (7)    -



13:00 Al-Attiyah loses 5 minutes more!

After 271 km, Nasser Al-Attiyah has lost five further minutes on the day’s stage to Stéphane Peterhansel. They are the only two drivers to have reached the latest time check point, but in any case, the Toyota driver trails his French rival by more than 10 minutes...



12:52 Peterhansel keeps Al-Attiyah at a distance

After 200 km, Stéphane Peterhansel still has a lead of almost 5’30’’ over Nasser Al-Attiyah. There are still 260 km to go before they reach the finishing line of today’s special, so the race is by no means over!



12:27 Peterhansel and Serradori lead the dance

After 157 km, Stéphane Peterhansel still leads, 1’25’’ ahead of his countryman Mathieu Serradori, who is enjoying a good start to the special. Sunday’s winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi occupies third place, a little less than three minutes behind “Mister Dakar”. Nasser Al-Attiyah, fifth, trails his general standings rival by 5’43’’ and is under threat from another Toyota driven by Giniel De Villiers. Carlos Sainz has lost more than 21 minutes!




11:56 Excellent start for Serradori

Mathieu Serradori, the 26th driver to start, has roared up the day’s standings. After 91 km, the Frenchman occupies fourth place, less than two minutes behind current stage leader Stéphane Peterhansel.




11:33 Peterhansel leads, Sainz and Al-Attiyah lose time!

Stéphane Peterhansel still leads the special, but his main rivals are losing time. After 121 km, Nasser Al-Attiyah trailed by 48’’, but at the next time check point the gap has increased to six minutes! As for Carlos Sainz, he has slipped from 2’31 to 5’ behind. Peterhansel could carve out a clear advantage in the general standings… but the day is far from over yet because the drivers have not yet reached the midway point of this difficult special!



11:28 Lavieille 10th in the general standings

Christian Lavieille and his co-pilot Jean-Pierre Garcin were delighted with their performance yesterday. The two Frenchmen, involved in a long battle the previous day with the eventual winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who then suffered several punctures, perfectly handled the second part of the marathon stage to pick up the tenth best time, despite gearbox problems.

They have replaced it with the gearbox they used in the first half of the rally in order to continue. Their performance yesterday even allowed them to move into the top 10 in the general standings!



10:57 Peterhansel moves into the lead

Stéphane Peterhansel is aiming to avoid losing ground today and as he said on Monday evening, “each minute is important”. After 63 km, the Frenchman has taken the lead by eight seconds in front of Nasser Al-Attiyah and ten ahead of Carlos Sainz (prior to his puncture). After a fine performance yesterday, Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi is in forth place, only 1’37’’ behind.



10:49 Puncture for Sainz

Carlos Sainz has suffered a puncture after 98 km. The title holder, who was only ten seconds behind Stéphane Peterhansel at the second intermediate point (after 63 km), will have to pull out all the stops to try and make up for the time lost.



10:26 Variawa, another South African shining on the Dakar!

Shameer Variawa and his co-pilot Dennis Murphy achieved their first top 10 finish of the year at the end of the eighth special. Variawa, who had to withdraw due to a broken shock absorber in 2019, enrolled for the 43rd edition of the Dakar determined to record good results while continuing to learn about the rally.


The South African duo driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing managed to keep to this strategic road-map by accomplishing its best performance with the seventh best time on the second part of the marathon stage!




10:22 6 seconds…

At the first time check point, Nasser Al-Attiyah currently leads Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel, but only six seconds separate the three drivers who also make up the leading trio in the general standings. Only four cars have reached the first way point and others may yet join in the battle for the stage.



10:05 Despres and Horn are making a success of it

Despite a little bit of confusion about numbers during a Franco-South African exchange between driver and co-pilot on the eighth special, Cyril Despres and Mike Horn achieved their best result of the year yesterday in Neom! The two men are clearly determined to do better and get closer to the top of the leader board.



09:46 The special is underway for Al-Attiyah!

Nasser Al-Attiyah starts the ninth special deemed to be one of the most difficult on the 43rd edition of the Dakar. His rival Stéphane Peterhansel will be following him six minutes later to try and maintain, or even increase, his lead in the general standings.




08:05 The duel continues between Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel

Nasser Al-Attiyah may well have won his fifth special of the year yesterday, but the Toyota driver still trails Stéphane Peterhansel by a little less than five minutes. Today, he will again have to open the way for his adversaries but also try to gain more time back on his French rival. It is a safe bet that Carlos Sainz, who finished between the two leaders on Monday, will be doing his utmost to repeat the feat or do better.




07:25 A stroll by the seaside…

The first kilometres of the day’s stage will run along the coast of the Red Sea, then head towards quicker tracks and sandy tracks, before returning to Neom. Even if the backdrop of this special appears idyllic, it will nevertheless be one of the most demanding on the 43rd edition of the Dakar. The competitors will have to be wary of navigational difficulties, but also mechanical problems and punctures.



08:06 Peterhansel slipping away

Overall leader Stéphane Peterhansel is almost eight minutes clear of his closest rival, Nasser Al-Attiyah. Even a mechanical failed to stop the Frenchman from putting valuable time into his Qatari rival. Carlos Sainz is now 41 minutes behind his teammate, but the Spaniard could crash the party and take the fight to the two leaders. Drivers who flew under the radar in the first part of the marathon stage may also have something up their sleeves for the second part…


- ASO -  photo ASO DPPI Vargiolu