First news from Dakar stage 11 from Belen into Chilecito 17.01.2018: DAKAR RALLY 2018 Stage 11 from Belen to Chilecito Wednesday, January 17th 2018 08:02 Peterhansel and Walkner at CP1

DAKAR RALLY 2018
Stage 11 from Belen to Chilecito
Wednesday, January 17th 2018





08:02 Peterhansel and Walkner at CP1

Two top competitors of two different categories racing close to one another is a rare sight indeed. We are seeing that today with Stéphane Peterhansel, second in the car category, and motorcycle leader Matthias Walkner. Remarkably, the Austrian was only 34 seconds slower than the Frenchman at CP1.




07:36 Mixed start

Stéphane Peterhansel has just started today's special three minutes ahead of his immediate chaser, which will be a motorcycle for a change! We are having a mixed start this morning, so yesterday's winner Matthias Walkner will be right behind Mister Dakar.



 The other cars and motorcycles will continue taking turns to start the special, with some trucks interspersed among them!




07:16 Today's withdrawals


The first Argentinian stage made an impact, particularly in the motorcycle category. Adrien Van Beveren, his water carrier Alessandro Botturi, János Dési, rookie Luciano Benavides and China's Zhang Min left the race.


The quad category also lost two significant players in Gustavo Gallego and Simon Vitse, while Nicolás Fuchs and He Zhitao will no longer be in the car race.




06:40 Easy does it...


Carlos Sainz has been cautious since he took control of the general standings and has a fine lead over his rivals. He will have to maintain this attitude until the end of the rally if he hopes to win a second Dakar.



Stéphane Peterhansel, however, is on all-out attack and this has allowed him to regain second place in the general standings, putting his Spanish team-mate under a (small) bit of pressure. As for the rest of the pack, they would all like to take advantage of the complicated terrain to bring Peugeot’s domination to a close…






06:25 Walkner's new role


After yesterday’s shake-up, Matthias Walkner has shot to the top of the general standings with large lead over his rivals. The official KTM rider will nonetheless have to keep a cool head despite the hot weather and having to open the way.


For all his pursuers, there is no other choice but to attack and try and claw back the time they have lost, though they must not overdo it. The exit from the rally of Adrien Van Beveren 3 km from the finishing line yesterday serves to remind them just how costly the slightest mistake can be on the Dakar.




 06:10 A decisive stage



 If it is hot, which makes the sand softer, this is most certainly the trickiest part of Argentina… and potentially the site of great achievements for a competitor on form, such as Stéphane Peterhansel.


As in 2016, the times from yesterday’s special will be used to define the starting order that will combine the 25 quickest bikes, cars and trucks. In the evening, the bikers will be staying in a different bivouac for their second marathon stage.




ASO  - also photo and KTM