Rally

Having dropped to third in the general classification after two navigational errors on Friday, Loeb re-established himself as Al-Attiyah’s closest competitor with a commanding stage victory as the rally resumed with a 402km test from Riyadh to Al Dawadimi. The Prodrive/Bahrain team driver locked horns with Audi’s Carlos Sainz at the beginning of the stage, trailing his former WRC teammate ...Keep readingView the full article

GasGas rider Sunderland initially took the lead of the Saudi Arabian event on Stage 2, and maintained a slim advantage of two minutes, 39 seconds at the head of the table into Saturday's rest day. However, the Briton's hopes of adding a second Dakar victory to his 2017 triumph took a blow on Sunday's 402km Riyadh-Al Dawadimi test, as navigational problems left him 25m55s behind the day's ...Keep readingView the full article

With many of the leading riders struggling on Sunday's 402km Riyadh-Al Dawadimi test, van Beveren was able to leapfrog from the fourth position he held at the rest day into the top spot. The French rider gained a position even before the start as GasGas rider Daniel Sanders crashed out during the liaison section before the timed special, while the Australian's teammate Sunderland and his ...Keep readingView the full article

GCK Motorsport expressed its intention to develop a hydrogen-powered rally-raid car back in November 2020, but it was only this Saturday that the French company unveiled the first version of the GCK e-Blast H2 in the Riyadh bivouac. Before the new car makes its expected Dakar debut in 2024, GCK will continue to compete with the Thunder DKR on biofuel to gather additional data. The vehicle ...Keep readingView the full article

The Australian had won two of the six stages to have taken place during the Saudi Arabian event so far to go into Saturday's rest day third overall, trailing GasGas teammate Sam Sunderland by just five minutes, 35 seconds. However, en route to the start of Sunday's 402km Riyadh-Al Dawadimi stage, Sanders injured his left arm in a fall and had to be taken to hospital. As the winner of Stage ...Keep readingView the full article

De Villiers ran over Chilean rider Cesar Zumaran on the second stage of the rally-raid on Monday, earning himself a five-minute time penalty for the collision. This was followed by a second accident the same day, where the South African was unable to avoid the crashed bike of Mohamedsaid Aoulad Ali after coming down a dune. The FIA stewards initially handed him a five-hour penalty for acting ...Keep readingView the full article

The Qatari driver had been the most vocal critic of Dakar’s regulations in the past, particularly complaining about the apparent performance gulf between two-wheel drive buggies and 4x4 cars such as the Toyota Hilux. After his defeat to X-raid Mini’s Stephane Peterhansel in last year’s event, he made it clear that he was “not interested” in returning to the rally unless the rules were ...Keep readingView the full article

On the eve of this year’s Dakar event in Saudi Arabia, Sainz was critical of the new T1 Ultimate regulations that cover electric and hybrid vehicles, saying that Audi wasn’t given parity with its petrol-powered rivals. The three-time Dakar winner was of the opinion that Audi has to contend with a car that is significantly heavier than its competitors, while not having any more power or the ...Keep readingView the full article

On Friday, Jean-Yves Le Drian said the possibility of cancelling the rally was "still on the table" after an assistance car belonging to French team Sodicars Racing exploded outside in Jeddah on December 30. Driver Philippe Boutron suffered a "very serious leg injury" as a result of the explosion, while the five other people in the car escaped unharmed. French Foreign Minister Le Drian said ...Keep readingView the full article

De Villiers was involved in two separate incidents in the opening two stages of the rally-raid in Saudi Arabia, leaving him out of battle for outright honours. The South African was given a five-minute time penalty for the first offence involving Chile's Cesar Zumaran in Stage 1, before having five hours added to his total time for a second incident the following day. De Villiers ran into ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC will embrace hybrid technology for the first time this season as part of new sweeping Rally1 regulations set to make their debut at the Monte Carlo Rally later this month. The introduction of hybrid power will present drivers with extra power boosts to be used on each stage, resulting in all-new cars being capable of producing 500 horsepower in short bursts. The addition of a ...Keep readingView the full article

Australian rider Sanders was declared the winner of Stage 6 as the day's 421km loop around Riyadh was cut short at the first neutralised zone after 101km. That was due to safety concerns regarding the degradation of the terrain, which had been used by the cars and trucks competitors on Thursday and further worsened by heavy rain. Sanders led at each waypoint to finish 2m26s up on Sunderland ...Keep readingView the full article

The lead changed hands several times during the 348km special near Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, with Audi’s Carlos Sainz, Overdrive Toyota driver Yazeed Al Rajhi, and Al-Attiyah all enjoying stints at the front. But ultimately it was Prodrive’s third driver Terranova who ended the day quickest of all, scoring his first Dakar stage win since 2015 by just over a minute over Audi rival ...Keep readingView the full article

An assistance car belonging to French team Sodicars Racing exploded outside the Donatello hotel in Jeddah on December 30, just days before the start of the rally on January 1. Six passengers were travelling in the car during the explosion and, while five of them were unharmed, driver Philippe Boutron suffered a "very serious leg injury". While the local authorities has since reinforced ...Keep readingView the full article

Double MotoGP race winner Petrucci became the first rider in history to win a stage of the famous Dakar having also competed in the premier class of grand prix racing. Petrucci finished the shortened stage five – which was ended early for the bikes due to the medical helicopter being mobilised – second, but winner Toby Price was hit was a six-minute penalty. This promoted Tech 3 KTM ...Keep readingView the full article

Petrucci continued his strong start to his rally-raid career with a provisional second place on Thursday's stage, a 346km loop around Riyadh, finishing four minutes, 14 seconds behind fellow KTM man Price. However, it was subsequently announced that Price had been handed a six-minute penalty for speeding, handing Petrucci his first Dakar stage win in just his fifth attempt. With Price ...Keep readingView the full article

Having battled with Al-Attiyah on Wednesday before a rear wheel issue dropped him out of contention, Lategan was again among the frontrunners in the 421km special near Riyadh - even as he had to drive with the door open early on in the stage. The 27-year-old grabbed the lead at the second checkpoint after usurping the X-raid Mini of Yasir Seaidan, with the electric Audis of Stephane Peterhansel ...Keep readingView the full article

After a tough day on Wednesday, Price was among the leaders throughout the stage, a 346km loop around the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, but only took the lead at the penultimate waypoint. Leading most of the stage was GasGas rider Daniel Sanders, who led Honda's Kevin Benavides by around two minutes before dropping 12m41s at the 311km mark. With defending champion Benavides also losing ...Keep readingView the full article

The South African Toyota Gazoo Racing driver has been involved in two consecutive incidents (Stage 1 and Stage 2) in the 2022 Dakar event with two bike riders. The FIA sanctioned the 2009 Dakar winner on Monday with a five-minute penalty for hitting Chilean César Zumaran and not stopping to help him, but the second penalty was much more severe. De Villiers ran into Moroccan rider ...Keep readingView the full article

Loeb joined the British squad on Tuesday for the latest tarmac test of its 2022 hybrid Puma ahead of the WRC’s move to new hybrid Rally1 regulations next year. Loeb has been linked with a possible return to the WRC next year with M-Sport although it is thought should a deal be forthcoming it would only be a partial campaign. M-Sport declined to comment about the test when approached by ...Keep readingView the full article