Desert Wings make their mark on the Dakar as temperatures soar 12.01.2016: Carlos Sainz races on stage nine of Dakar © DPPI With more gravel roads and sand dunes today, the

Carlos Sainz races on stage nine of Dakar © DPPI



With more gravel roads and sand dunes today, the Desert Wings are continuing to make their mark on the Dakar. The Red Bull-backed Peugeot 2008DKR16 of Carlos Sainz takes the overall lead with a fine stage win today. There's another member of Team Peugeot-Total in second overall, as 11-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel battled back from getting stuck in the sand on stage nine.


Nine-time WRC winner Sébastien Loeb was back in the race today after rolling his car yesterday. Loeb's car was repaired overnight and he return for more action today. The Frenchman and co-driver Daniel Elena got stuck in the sand several times and also had to make mechanical repairs on the stage. They came home 1h13m47s behind Peugeot team-mate Sainz.


The news was better for the Peugeot 2008DKR16 driven by Cyril Despres: the five-time bike race winner clocked the day's sixth-fastest time. Despres could have recorded an even better time, but he stopped to help Peugeot team-mate Peterhansel.


Nasser Al-Attiyah is continuing the fightback by showing his mastery of the off-piste stages. The Qatari was quickest on the splits before encountering two punctures simultaneously – but he has still managed to consolidate his third place.


Toby Price continues to lead the bike section, stretching his advantage to more than 24 minutes at only his second Dakar. But a portion of his hard work came to nothing when the organisers cancelled the stage after CP2, two thirds of the way into the stage, due to extreme heat that had affected previous competitors. The Australian completed the whole stage, before it was shortened, and won that convincingly as well.


In the quads, Marcos Patronelli maintains the lead by just over a minute, while there are also no movers in the truck category, with Gerard de Rooy still hanging on to an advantage over Kamaz’s Eduard Nikolaev.


All the motorbikes and quads now go straight to parc ferme as today was the first half of the second marathon stage of this Dakar, which meant that none of the vehicles were allowed mechanical assistance from service crews at the bivouac.


Tomorrow, they face even bigger sand dunes, with the Fiambala dunes section that are set to provide the biggest challenge of the rally to date over 278 km. External temperatures today have peaked at 47 degrees centigrade – less than 10 degrees off the highest temperature ever recorded in the world, which was 56.7 degrees in Death Valley, California.


Watch/Download the Rally Dakar 2016: News Cut - Stage Nine: Belén to Belén. Featuring footage of Sébastien Loeb's car being repaired plus interviews with Sébastien Loeb (FRA), Toby Price (AUS), Carlos Sainz (ESP) and Erik van Loon (NLD) here.
 



2016 Dakar Rally Stage Nine Results


CARS

1. Carlos Sainz   (ESP)   02:35:31
2. Erik van Loon   (NLD)   +00:00:10
3. Mikko Hirvonen   (FIN)    +00:00:17
4. Giniel de Villiers   (ZAF)   +00:00:38
5. Nasser Al-Attiyah   (QAT)   +00:02:04
6. Cyril Despres   (FRA)   +00:06:46
7. Stéphane Peterhansel   (FRA)   +00:09:12
20. Marek Dabrowski   (POL)   +00:57:18
22. Sébastien Loeb   (FRA)   +01:13:47
23. Kuba Przygonski   (POL)   +01:17:49
45. Adam Malysz   (POL)   +03:00:06


BIKES

1. Toby Price   (AUS)   02:24:19
2. Kevin Benavides   (ARG)   +00:07:10
3. Stefan Svitko   (SVK)   +00:10:33
4. Pablo Quintanilla   (CHL)   +00:10:48
5. Ricky Brabec   (USA)   +00:11:03
6. Antoine Méo   (FRA)   +00:11:53
9. Hélder Rodrigues   (PRT)   +00:16:00
29. Iván Cervantes   (ESP)   +00:45:38
57. Jordi Viladoms   (ESP)   +01:38:04


TRUCK

1. Gerard de Rooy   (NLD)   02:41:20
2. Ton van Genugten   (NLD)   +00:03:59
3. Andrey Karginov   (RUS)   +00:16:04
4. Federico Villabgra   (ARG)   +00:16:45
5. Eduard Nikolaev   (RUS)   +00:19:14
10. Ayrat Mardeev   (RUS)   +00:29:28
31. Dmitry Sotnikov   (RUS)   +02:03:39


QUADS

1. Lucas Bonetto   (ARG)   03:38:40
2. Alejandro Patronelli   (ARG)   +00:00:35
3. Marcos Patronelli   (ARG)  +00:01:28
4. Brian Baragwanath   (ZAF)   +00:03:04
5. Nelson Sanabria   (PRY)   +00:03:07



2016 Dakar Rally Overall Standings

CARS

1. Carlos Sainz   (ESP)   28:39:24
2. Stéphane Peterhansel   (FRA)   +00:07:03
3. Nasser Al-Attiyah   (QAT)   +00:14:38
4. Mikko Hirvonen   (FIN)    +00:34:50
5. Giniel de Villiers   (ZAF)   +00:53:18
10. Cyril Despres   (FRA)   +01:51:30
13. Sébastien Loeb   (FRA)   +02:16:54
17. Kuba Przygonski   (POL)   +03:24:02
30. Marek Dabrowski   (POL)   +13:35:05
45. Adam Malysz   (POL)   +20:47:18



BIKE

1. Toby Price   (AUS)   29:53:15
2. Stefan Svitko   (SVK)   +00:24:47
3. Pablo Quintanilla   (CHL)   +00:32:14
4. Kevin Benavides   (ARG)   +00:33:05
5. Antoine Méo   (FRA)   +00:40:37
6. Hélder Rodrigues   (PRT)   +00:46:51
19. Iván Cervantes   (ESP)   +02:07:53
23. Jordi Viladoms   (ESP)   +02:52:47


TRUCKS

1. Gerard de Rooy   (NLD)   28:30:46
2. Eduard Nikolaev   (RUS)   +00:27:12
3. Federico Villabgra   (ARG)   +00:41:24
4. Pieter Versluis   (NLD)   +00:44:00
5. Ton van Genugten   (NLD)   +00:45:02
6. Ayrat Mardeev   (RUS)   +00:51:49
7. Andrey Karginov   (RUS)   +01:41:31
17. Dmitry Sotnikov   (RUS)   +03:43:31


QUADS

1. Marcos Patronelli   (ARG)   36:27:33
2. Alejandro Patronelli   (ARG)   +00:01:13
3. Alexis Hernandez   (PER)   +00:40:09
4. Jeremias Gonzalez   (ARG)   +00:50:48
5. Sergei Kariakin   (RUS)    +01:05:49

 


Quotes


Carlos Sainz #303: "It was a very difficult stage. There was a lot of offroad action on soft ground, with a lot of vegetation. We had to stop twice because we got stuck in the sand. I’m not sure exactly why they shortened the stage, even though it was certainly challenging due to the heat.


We had three slow punctures but we didn’t have to stop to change the tyres. I’m pleased to be in the lead but the Fiambala stage tomorrow will be very difficult. The motorbikes won't be using the same route, so it’s going to be tricky for us to open the road.”


Nasser Al-Attiyah #300: “Today was a tricky stage. We had two punctures: or rather deflations, when the air just came out of the tyre. Luckily they happened at the same time and on the same side of the car, so we didn’t actually lose too much time. This happened at about kilometre 120.


Apart from that I’m very happy with the car and our performance but it is a pity that the stage was shortened: we need the kilometres. Personally, I didn’t think it was too hot."


Stéphane Peterhansel #302: “We had lots of problems today. There was plenty of vegetation, including some thorny bits, and we had two punctures. We got stuck twice, not in the actual dunes but in some soft ground. I slowed down a bit before coming into a hole and remained blocked there.


 At the end of the stage, with plenty of vegetation jamming the radiators, I had to slow down so that the engine didn’t overheat. We lost a lot of time today. Tomorrow the Fiambala stage will be crucial for the rest of the rally.”


Cyril Despres #321: “The stage went well for us. We stayed concentrated and didn't get stuck. It was a very difficult stage physically but we kept on the pace. We saw a car stopped on the stage, and it was Stéphane. When you’re part of the Peugeot team, you owe it to everyone to help the team lose as little time as possible. We gave him a spare wheel. Bearing in mind the whole context of today, it was a good damage limitation exercise.”


Toby Price #3: “I get to the finishing line and then they cancel the rest of it. That's a bit of a shame, but that's the way it is. It's job done today, but everyone's got lucky since we've stopped at CP1 and CP2. The bike seems really good, really strong and still going really well. The mechanics have done a really good job over the lead-up to the race and during the event.”


Antoine Méo #49: “I made a mistake in the first bit of navigation. I got a piece of tree in the wheel, so I crashed and fell off. In the second part, I did very well on the navigation but they stopped the stage early because it was very hot. I'm still in one piece and the bike is okay, so I'm hoping for better tomorrow… I think in the Dakar you also need to be lucky.”


Hélder Rodrigues #7: “I crashed at the beginning and broke my handlebars, but I pushed the same and tried to make it a good day. I think it was a difficult day for everybody. For me it was very difficult with a bike like this trying to push, but I finished today and I'm happy to finish one day more on the Dakar. The riding today was difficult but today and tonight I'll fix the damage, no problem – it's easy to fix.”




Christina Gaither- photos Red Bull Content Pool