“We will not win this Dakar 2022, but at least we have to win stages.” That was how forceful it was yesterday Carlos Sainz after finishing second in the tenth special, which was taken by his teammate Peterhansel. Well today the Madrid pilot has starred in an exhibition to add his second win in saudi lands behind the wheel of the innovator Audi RS e-tron, a car that with this result has already accumulated four wins in eleven stages and, most importantly, has shown that in the future, when it solves its ‘youth’ problems, it will be a firm contender for the ‘Touareg’. For Sainz, is the 41st victory in his Dakarian record.
This Thursday Sainz he has dominated from the first stages, after starting second. Only Loeb and Peterhansel have been able to keep up with their starting rhythm, although halfway through the course they have loosened and Lucio Alvarez has joined the battle. At the end of the 346 km stage on the Bisha loop, Sainz has been imposed with more than two minutes on Sébastien Loeb (BRX) Y more than three with respect to Alvarez, although the Frenchman has been penalized later. Loeb had cut more than four minutes with the leader Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) on the toughest day of the Dakar, in the Bisha dunes, but the penalty he received for speeding at a radar point made him lose more time than he had made up for. With the five-minute penalty, the nine-time world rally champion has gone from second to eighth on the stage and remains 33’19 “behind. Al Attiyah.
Only one last and almost symbolic 164km stage remains this Friday for the 44th edition of the Dakar Rally to drop the curtain in Jeddah. And barring a major catastrophe, the final triumph will be for Al-Attiyah. The fourth in his personal account, one more than Sainz and still far from the eight of ‘Monsieur Dakar’ Peterhansel.
Cars 11th stage (346 km)
one. C. SAINZ-L. CROSS (AUDI) 3h29 ’32’ ‘
2. L.ALVAREZ-A. MONLEON (TOYOTA) at 3 ’10’ ‘
3. M. EKSTROM-E. BERGKVIST (AUDI) at 3 ’53’ ‘
Four. N. ROMA-A. HARO (BRX) at 4 ’10’ ‘
5. G. DE VILLIERS-D. MURPHY (TOYOTA) at 5 ’11’ ‘
6. S. PETERHANSEL-E.BOULANGER (AUDI) at 5 ’54’ ‘
7. N. AL-ATTIYAH-M. BAUMEL (TOYOTA) at 6 ’42’ ‘
8. S.LOEB-F.LURQUIN (BRX) at 7 ’21’ ‘
9. O. TERRANOVA-D. OLIVERAS (BRX) at 7 ’53’ ‘
10. M. SERRADORI-L. MINAUDIER (SRT) at 10 ’38’ ‘
13. Y. AL RAJHI-M. ORR (TOYOTA) at 14 ’37’ ‘
This is how the provisional general goes:
1. N. AL-ATTIYAH-M. BAUMEL (TOYOTA) 36 h 49 ’51’ ‘
2. S. LOEB-FN LURQUIN (BRX) a 33 ’19’ ‘
3. Y. AL RAJHI-M. ORR (TOYOTA) at 1h 03 ’43’ ‘
4. O. TERRANOVA-D. OLIVERAS (BRX) at 1h 31 ’29’ ‘
5. G. DE VILLIERS-D. MURPHY (TOYOTA) 1h 44 ’11’ ‘
12. C. SAINZ-L. CROSS (AUDI) at 3h 37 ’58’ ‘
19. L. ALVAREZ-A. MONLEON (TOYOTA) yy 4h 58 ’27’ ‘
23. L. SANZ-M. GERINI (MINI) at 6h 07 ’24’ ‘
27. I. ESTEVE-T. VILLALOBOS (TOYOTA) at 7h 07 ’07’ ‘
42. N. ROMA-A. HARO (BRX) at 43h 40 ’32’ ‘
44. C. CZECH-F. FRAMEWORK (MD RALLY) at 104h 42 ’54’
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