Rally

Peterhansel was fighting for stage victory with the Overdrive Toyota of Yazeed Al-Rajhi when a wheel rim on his X-raid Mini broke 40km from the finish line. After fixing the problem and resuming the stage, 20km later the French driver felt something “really strange” in the car and it was only after arriving in the bivouac that he discovered the suspension was broken. Despite the double ...Keep reading View the full article

The nine-time World Rally champion dropped out of Dakar victory contention during Friday’s Stage 6 when his Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme BRX1 stopped 97km into the stage with a broken suspension arm. Knowing a relatively quick fix with a replacement part from a team assistance truck would limit the time lost to his rivals, Loeb’s dwindling hopes were ended when the truck arrived with ...Keep reading View the full article

A number of Dakar competitors have struggled with navigation frustrations during the opening week, with defending champion Carlos Sainz particularly vocal after his problems on Stage 5, claiming the event “feels more like a gymkhana than a rally”. Sebastien Loeb backed up Sainz’s feelings by calling the 2021 Dakar a “race of co-drivers”, with the competitors who make the fewest ...Keep reading View the full article

Peterhansel led much of the 453km Stage 7 between Ha’il and Sakaki, the first part of the two-day marathon stage where crews have to do without external assistance, his advantage stretching to 4m15s at its peak. But a broken wishbone on his Mini buggy left him vulnerable in the final sections of the stage, allowing home hero Al-Rajhi to come through and take a narrow 48-second victory - the ...Keep reading View the full article

Reigning champion Brabec had been sitting only 13th heading into the first part of the marathon stage, a 453km test between Ha’il and Sakaka. But after a relatively sluggish start to the day, Brabec slowly started catching early leader Price before finally pulling clear at the eighth waypoint. Fellow Honda rider Kevin Benavides threw a spanner in the works when he emerged out of nowhere to ...Keep reading View the full article

The opening week of this year’s Dakar has proved to be challenging from a navigational point of view, with even some of the most experienced drivers in the field running off course after losing their way in Saudi Arabia’s deserts. Three-time champion and X-raid Mini driver Carlos Sainz was particularly vocal after his latest navigational drama in Stage 5, saying the event “feels more like ...Keep reading View the full article

Bidding for his third Dakar victory, Price won two of the first six stages of the Saudi Arabian event and goes into Saturday's rest day in Ha'il at the head of the order. The Australian holds a slender advantage of two minutes 16 seconds over Honda's Kevin Benavides following Friday's stage, with the top seven split by just over six minutes. Reflecting on the final competitive running before ...Keep reading View the full article

The Ypres Rally will go ahead in August, although a date for the Belgian tarmac classic has yet to be confirmed. It was added to 2020's heavily revised WRC calendar but had to be shelved a month before it was set to go ahead following a significant spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the country. "Ypres has been a hugely popular cornerstone of European rallying for more ...Keep reading View the full article

X-raid Mini driver Sainz led the entirety of the shortened 348km test between Al Qaisumah and Ha'il in Saudi Arabia, extending his advantage at every waypoint to take victory by just over four minutes from the Overdrive Toyota of Yazeed Al Rajhi. It marked Sainz’s second stage win in this year’s Dakar Rally following his success in the opening Jeddah-Bishi special, and ended a run of four ...Keep reading View the full article

Cut by 100km to 348km following navigational troubles experienced by some competitors on Thursday, the Al Qaisumah-Ha'il test witnessed a tight battle for honours in the motorcycle class, as the top three completed the stage split by less than a minute. Despite starting third on the road, Price led the way at the 158km mark, briefly surpassing Honda rival Barreda, but the Australian lost ground ...Keep reading View the full article

Having already been hit by a series of issues in the opening five stages of the rally, including punctures, navigational errors and a speeding penalty that prompted him to label the stewards “incompetent”, the nine-time World Rally champion was left stranded 97km into the shortened Stage 6 between Al Qaisumah and Ha'il on Friday. The Frenchman had set the fifth-fastest time in the first ...Keep reading View the full article

According to a statement from officials, the decision has been made due to a "significant number" of competitors that encountered difficulties on yesterday's fifth stage. Carlos Sainz was among the competitors to struggle during the 456-kilometre test between Riyadh and Al Qaisumah, the WRC legend likening the route so far to a "gymkhana rather than a rally". The Al Qaisumah to Ha'il stage ...Keep reading View the full article

Loeb was handed a five-minute penalty for exceeding the speed limit in Stage 4 on Wednesday, where he had been the fourth fastest, 2m36s behind winner and factory Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. This relegated the Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver to seventh place in the stage and the same position in the overall classification, 52m14s minutes down on leader Stephane Peterhansel (X-raid Mini). The ...Keep reading View the full article

Having already lost 31 minutes in Tuesday's third stage with navigational difficulties, three-time winner Sainz slipped further away from the top runners after losing his way in the early sections of Stage 5 on Thursday. The X-raid Mini driver conceded 28m40s to the Toyota of Giniel de Villiers before the first reference at 43km, with teammate Stephane Peterahnsel and Nasser Al-Attiyah ...Keep reading View the full article

De Villiers had been lying 22nd overall and third among the factory Toyotas after the opening four stages in Saudi Arabia, but led the 456km special between Riyadh and Al Qaisumah from start to finish to claim his 17th career Dakar stage win. The South African’s advantage peaked at over seven minutes after the first 250km of running, but he eventually bagged the stage victory with a reduced ...Keep reading View the full article

The Norwegian announced late last month that he will contest both WRC2 and the ERC in full this year at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia Rally 2 evo that will be prepped by Toksport WRT - the same squad that helped Chris Ingram to the ERC title in 2019. In addition to his dual campaign, Mikkelsen will help Skoda to further develop its Fabia while also trying to secure the backing to start a ...Keep reading View the full article

Benavides went into Thursday's 456km Riyadh-Al Qaisumah stage third overall and 3m24s off overnight leader Xavier de Soultrait, but only 14th in the running order owing to his finishing position on the previous day's test. That put in the Argentinian in a good position to fight for the win, as he spent the stage battling his junior Honda colleague and fellow South American Jose Ignacio ...Keep reading View the full article

Loeb, the nine-time World Rally Champion, finished fourth on Wednesday’s stage from Wadi-Ad-Dawasir to Riyadh, but received a five-minute penalty for speeding. That relegated him to seventh place on the day, and seventh overall. Read Also: Dakar 2021, Stage 4: Al-Attiyah beats Peterhansel to win Peterhansel: High average speed making Dakar "kind of dangerous" In a ...Keep reading View the full article

After organiser ASO admitted that some stages in the inaugural Saudi-based Dakar event last year were “very fast”, a new route that is “80-90% new” compared to the previous edition was prepared for 2021 to address the issue. A top speed limit was also introduced for the cars category, with competitors in the T1 (which includes Toyota, X-raid and Prodrive's new BRX1 contender) and ...Keep reading View the full article

Competing in his seventh Dakar Raly for Indian manufacturer Hero, Santosh fell off his bike 135km into the stage at 11:45am local time - in an area that features gravel tracks between mountains. Spierings was the first to arrive at the crash scene where he found an unconscious Santosh as well as fellow Husqvarna rider Maurizio Gerini. “I saw two bikes that were down and both riders ...Keep reading View the full article