Rally

Having initially held a lead of 4m12s after Thursday's penultimate test of the rally, Benavides' hopes were given a boost when his advantage over KTM rider Sam Sunderland was revised upwards to 5m07s due to a failure with the organisers' GPS equipment. Starting the deciding Yanbu-Jeddah stage third in the running order, Benavides gained 10 minutes on Sunderland in the opening 99km as the Briton ...Keep reading View the full article

Starting third on the road, Peterhansel grabbed an early lead in the shortened 464km test between Alula and Yanbu, heading X-raid Mini teammate Carlos Sainz and the PH Sport Peugeot of Khalid Al Qassimi. While both Sainz and Al Qassimi enjoyed brief stints in the lead later on, Peterhansel remained predominantly at the top throughout the stage, arriving at the final waypoint with an advantage ...Keep reading View the full article

Sunderland scored his first stage win of the 2021 Dakar on the shortened 464km Al Ula-Yanbu stage, more than halving the 10-minute deficit he faced to Honda man Benavides. The British rider, who is chasing a second Dakar win, took control at the 215km mark and from there extended an advantage of 2m40s over Husqvarna's Pablo Quintanilla. Benavides was third-fastest, dropping 6m24s on ...Keep reading View the full article

Based out of the city of Rovaniemi, and taking place from February 26-28 in temperatures that can dip to -30 degrees Celsius, Arctic Rally Finland will be the calendar’s sole snow meeting after Rally Sweden was called off due to COVID-19. Confirmation of the rally's inclusion to the WRC calendar means the series will visit Finland twice this season, with the other coming at Rally Finland ...Keep reading View the full article

Barreda had entered the shortened 464km Al Ula-Yanbu stage third overall with 15 minutes 40 seconds to make up on Honda teammate Kevin Benavides. Starting second, the Spaniard quickly caught and surpassed teammate Ricky Brabec, who opened the road, and had pulled more than two minutes clear at the 127km mark. At the next waypoint, located at 215km, Barreda was credited with a lead of over ...Keep reading View the full article

The 557 km (511 timed) stage between Al Ula and Yanbu was to be a last stern test for the competitors, but organiser ASO decided this Wednesday afternoon to reduce the Thursday stage by 47 km to a total of 464 timed kilometres "due to the bad weather in the area over the last few days which has erased the tracks". That implies that the finish line of the stage will be drawn earlier and that the ...Keep reading View the full article

The three-time Dakar winner trimmed overall leader Peterhansel’s advantage by 49 seconds on Stage 10, finishing second to Yazeed Al Rajhi on the stage, to see the French driver’s lead stand at 17m01s ahead of the penultimate day. Despite remaining in the victory fight throughout, the Qatari feels he’s been on the backfoot against the X-raid Mini buggy runners which have been able to cope ...Keep reading View the full article

GCK Energy and Saudi-based solar energy firm Desert Technologies are ramping up its provisions for solar energy to power the Dakar bivouac and supply charging points for electric vehicles in preparation for its shift towards entries run on renewable power. GCK Energy’s demonstration at this year’s Dakar is part of the ASO’s plan to run an autonomous bivouac structure ...Keep reading View the full article

Starting fourth in the 342km loop between Neom and Alula, Al-Rajhi snatched the lead from fellow Saudi Arabian driver Yasir Seaidan at the second waypoint and never looked back, claiming a second stage win of 2021. With Al Rajhi out of reach, Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel were locked in a tight scrap for the best of the rest honours, with the X-raid Mini driver holding the initial advantage. But ...Keep reading View the full article

Honda rider Cornejo had held a substantial 11 minute lead heading into the 342km test between Neom and Alula, with a maiden win in his sight. But the Chilean rider suffered a major crash 252km into the stage and, although he was able to make it to the finish, it was later announced that he has been forced to retire due to possible injuries sustained in the crash. Organiser ASO said that ...Keep reading View the full article

The Australian was airlifted to hospital in Tabuk after crashing 155 kilometres into the ninth stage of the event. He had been sitting second in the Bikes class, within striking distance of a third Dakar crown. After initial concerns he had broken both of his wrists, it's since been confirmed that he has in fact suffered a broken collarbone. and extensive bruising. "The Australian, who ...Keep reading View the full article

What had been a six-minute gap between Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah was nearly tripled as the X-raid Mini driver secured his first stage win of 2021, boosting his chances of securing a record-extending 14th Dakar title. While Peterhansel was at his usual best, consistently running at the front, Toyota driver Al-Attiyah lost a heap of time with two punctures and navigation troubles on a day that ...Keep reading View the full article

Both Honda rider Brabec and KTM man Sunderland sacrificed considerable ground when they attended to Price following the Australian's crash at the 155km mark. It left them ninth and 10th respectively at the end of the stage, as Kevin Benavides bagged his second win of the event and Jose Ignacio Cornejo extended his overall lead. However, Dakar organisers have now revised the day's results ...Keep reading View the full article

Cornejo entered Tuesday's 465km loop around Neom with one minute and six seconds in hand over KTM rider Price, having taken his first win of the rally on Monday. Despite opening the road, Chilean came close to making it back-to-back successes, leading at the 198km point before losing ground to Honda teammate Kevin Benavides. He eventually finished 1m34s behind Benavides, who notched up a ...Keep reading View the full article

The Australian, who was running second in the overall Bikes standings, crashed at the 155-kilometre point of today's ninth stage. According to Dakar officials he is now being transported to hospital in Tabuk for further assessment of head, right wrist and left shoulder injuries. The extent of those injuries is currently unknown, however organisers have confirmed he was conscious throughout ...Keep reading View the full article

Competing in the 375km Sakaka and Neom loop that formed the second part of the marathon stage, Loeb suffered two punctures in the first 80km when he had only spare tyre on his Prodrive-built BRX1 contender. After being stranded for over five hours in the middle of the stage, Loeb along with his co-driver Daniel Elena made the decision to return to the bivouac by road, marking an end to his 2021 ...Keep reading View the full article

The Australian completed had to complete more than 800 kilometres on one set of rubber over the course of Sunday and Monday across what's known as the 'marathon' stage, on which competitors are not permitted to receive external assistance. Price suffered a cut on the right side of his rear tyre early on Stage 7, but still successfully navigated the last 300km of the Ha'il-Sakaka test while only ...Keep reading View the full article

Having slipped nearly eight minutes behind Peterhansel with a subdued showing in the first part of the marathon stage, Al-Attiyah brought the deficit back under five minutes with his fourth stage win of 2021 in the 375km loop between Sakaka and Neom on Monday. Starting fourth on the road, the three-time champion immediately grabbed the lead at the first waypoint from Carlos Sainz and Sunday’s ...Keep reading View the full article

The Ethiopian-born Frenchman, nicknamed 'The African', passed away on Sunday "after a long battle with heart disease", according to Agence France-Presse. Auriol was among the participants of the inaugural edition of what was then known as the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979, scoring his first stage wins in 1980 and then the first of two outright victories on a motorcycle for BMW in ...Keep reading View the full article

Chilean rider Cornejo took the lead of the Saudi Arabian event on Sunday, by just one second from KTM's Toby Price, and was second on the road for Monday's 375km Sakaka-Neom stage behind Honda colleague and defending champion Ricky Brabec. Initially trailing Price, Cornejo took the advantage at the 307km waypoint and managed to stretch an advantage of 1m05s over the Australian rider by the ...Keep reading View the full article