Rally

Wednesday's Neom - Al-'Ula stage included the marathon's longest timed test so far at 453km, which was split by an 80km neutralised zone and was completed by Peterhansel in just over four hours. The 13-time Dakar champion was sixth in the starting order, but his X-raid Mini buggy was the third car to arrive at the finish line and had clocked the fastest time at all but the first ...Keep reading View the full article

The fourth stage of the event was run between the cities of Neom and Al-ʿUla, and was led by three different riders before Sunderland snatched the top spot right at the end. Brabec carried on his strong form from Stage 3 to lead early on despite opening the road, but lost around three minutes at halfway point and KTM's Toby Price and then Honda rider Kevin Benavides moved ahead. Benavides ...Keep reading View the full article

Al-Attiyah was punished by the event’s commissioners around 20:00 local time on Tuesday. They ruled that he ‘disturbed’ Carlos Sainz for several kilometers after the second neutralized zone of today’s stage. Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz released several audible warnings, according to the document of the stewards, and Al-Attiyah driver did not react to them. That broke Article 26P.3 ...Keep reading View the full article

Having lost over two hours to wheel and suspension repairs on Monday, Alonso and co-driver Marc Coma rebounded by finishing fifth fastest in the 427km loop around Neom. Alonso was just six minutes behind stage winner Carlos Sainz, and subsequently described his day as "very positive". "We had a stage without setbacks, with good visibility - even going back [towards Neom], every car that we ...Keep reading View the full article

The decision means the last 38 kilometres don't count and the stage ends at checkpoint #53, at the 389km mark. There was confusion at the end of the stage for riders such as Price and Xavier De Soultrait as the duo got lost, which cost them a significant amount of time. As Price explained, his problem stemmed from GPS showing a checkpoint in a wrong position. "Right at the end there is a ...Keep reading View the full article

Following heavy criticism from the likes of Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb’s co-driver Daniel Elena during the 2019 edition of the marathon, new Dakar director David Castera made navigational improvements a priority in 2020. Chief among the new measures is the practice of withholding notebooks to bike crews until 25 minutes before the start of the stage (15 minutes for cars), instead of the ...Keep reading View the full article

Sainz became the third different Mini driver to win a stage of the Saudi Arabia-based event, as he set the pace over the 427km loop around Neom in his buggy. His final winning margin on the day was three minutes and 31 seconds over reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, and he heads the Toyota driver by five minutes in the overall classification. Stephane Peterhansel, who drives the other ...Keep reading View the full article

Ross Branch, who took a shock stage win on Monday and consequently had to be first on the road this time around, damaged his shoulder in a crash and lost over an hour of time. Yamaha rider van Beveren was another notable crasher as the Frenchman suffered a heavy fall just three kilometres into the stage and was resigned to his third straight retirement from Dakar. Van Beveren was diagnosed ...Keep reading View the full article

As the catastrophic fires continue to burn through the bushland on Australia's east coast, the reigning Bikes winner has put his jersey and pants from the start of this year's Dakar up for auction through his Facebook page. The current highest bid at $13,001, with all proceeds to be donated to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Price won the opening stage of the 2020 Dakar, but slipped ...Keep reading View the full article

Alonso had been enjoying a “just perfect” run until that point of the stage, but admits he was blinded by dust from two competitors ahead when he “hit a hole”. The impact tore off the left-front wheel, which the duo managed to repair on the spot, but lost over two hours in doing so. “The moment we tore off the left front wheel it looked bad,” said Coma, who has won the Dakar five ...Keep reading View the full article

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Defending champion Al-Attiyah entered the 2020 edition of the event as the favourite for the win, but sits third in the general classification after Monday’s Al Wajh - Neom test, 6m07s down on leader Orlando Terranova (Mini). The Qatari driver suffered three punctures on the opening day of the rally, before losing further time on Monday with an additional three punctures. Al-Attiyah’s ...Keep reading View the full article

The two-time Formula 1 world champion lost over two hours after damaging his Toyota Hilux's suspension following an accident some 160km into the stage. Alonso and co-driver Marc Coma repaired the damage themselves and managed to cross the finish line 2h34m behind teammate and stage winner Giniel de Villiers. "We collided with something in the dust," said Alonso after the stage. "We don't ...Keep reading View the full article

Two-time Formula 1 champion Alonso was close to the frontrunners’ pace over the first 160 kilometres of the test, but his Toyota Hilux was then halted after an impact with a rock that left it with wheel and suspension damage. Although Alonso and co-driver Marc Coma attempted repairs on the spot, they have now been resigned to waiting on the stage for Toyota Gazoo’s assistance truck – and ...Keep reading View the full article

Branch, who is tackling his second Dakar riding a privateer KTM, moved to the fore a little over halfway through the 367km stage, as early leader Joan Barreda (Honda) dropped almost four minutes ahead of the 214km mark. The Bostwana-born rider managed to hang on through the latter part of the stage to win by 1m24s ahead of Sunderland, while Pablo Quintanilla completed the top three for ...Keep reading View the full article

The drivers who finished between second, third and fourth on the opening stage of the 2020 Dakar have combined to win nine of the past 10 editions of the marathon, and bagged countless stage wins along the way. Yet on Sunday, be it through navigation or punctures or whatever other reason, Carlos Sainz, Stephane Peterhansel and Nasser Al-Attiyah were all outpaced by the relatively little-known ...Keep reading View the full article

Alonso, who is partnered by co-driver Marc Coma in a Toyota Hilux, finished 11th-fastest on the first 319km stage of the Saudi Arabia-based marathon. He was 10 minutes slower than the leading Toyota of Nasser Al-Attiyah, but outpaced the other Dakar champion in the roster, Giniel de Villiers, who had to do a big chunk of the test on a punctured tyre. “We had a day not without ...Keep reading View the full article

Reigning Dakar champion Price topped the first stage of the 2020 event, the first to be held in Saudi Arabia, narrowly beating Honda rider Ricky Brabec by 2m05s after 319km of running. The Australian trailed early leader Brabec for about first-third of the distance, before surging ahead and retaining the position till the finish line. However, the 32-year-old admitted that it wasn’t all ...Keep reading View the full article

Toyota’s defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah led the way for most of the 319km timed special on the coastal stage from Jeddah to Al Wajh that kicked off the first ever Saudi Arabia-based Dakar. But the Qatari suffered three punctures late on, paving the way for an upset. With the X-raid Mini buggies of past rally winners Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz having both lost several ...Keep reading View the full article

Dakar winners in cars by number of victories: Dakar winners by year Year Driver Car 2019 Nasser Al-Attiyah Toyota Hilux 2018 Carlos Sainz Peugeot 3008 DKR Maxi 2017 Stephane Peterhansel Peugeot 3008 ...Keep reading View the full article