Ari Vatanen is a Dakar legend. PDO
French Stéphane Peterhansel has risen to Ari Vatanen next to the Dakar Rally in the number of special test victories.
Peterhansel took first place in Sunday’s special test. Both desert foxes now have exactly 50 first places in the world’s most demanding rally.
On Monday, a section of 440 kilometers was already driven from al-Duwadim to al-Salamiya. The first one to set off Carlos Sainz lost his lead to the Saudi Arabian to Yazeed al-Rajh.
Sainz is now trying to conquer the Dakar for the fourth time. The specialty of the Spanish veteran is that the previous three victories have all come at the wheel of different cars (Volkswagen, Peugeot and Mini).
Respecting tradition, Sainz now drives an Audi. He is now 29 seconds behind Toyota driver al-Raj. Swedish Mattias Ekström is third.
Al-Rajh’s teammate was the fastest in Monday’s special test Lucas Moraes. For example, the nine-time rally world champion Sébastien Loeb lost more than 23 minutes to brass drivers.
Stéphane Peterhansel took the victory of the 50th Dakar special stage on Sunday. PDO