Audi has lost a lot of ground after the first long stage in the Dakar Rally 2022 in Saudi Arabia. Defending champion Stephane Peterhansel tore off his left rear wheel and had to wait for the assistance truck in the desert. Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekström lost a lot of time due to difficult navigation.
Peterhansel was at kilometer 153 on Sunday. Until then, things had gone well for the new Audi RS Q e-tron, because the Frenchman was second at the waypoint at kilometer 120. But then he hit “something” in the camel grass and damaged the left rear suspension.
The bike and its rear suspension lay in the sand next to the car. Peterhansel and his co-pilot Edouard Boulanger waited six hours and 20 minutes in the desert. They had prepared everything so that the mechanics of the assistance truck could reassemble the wheel.
That was finally achieved. Peterhansel continued his drive, but lost another half an hour over the next 40 kilometers. At the neutralization point at kilometer 207, he decided to abort the stage so as not to get into the dark.
Peterhansel drove back to the bivouac on the road. Including the penalty time of 16 hours, he is now 23 hours and 31 minutes behind. Audi will continue the race with Peterhansel anyway. They want to test the new prototype under competitive conditions.
Carlos Sainz criticizes the road book
Sainz lost around two hours on Sunday. Including a penalty of 15 minutes, he is two hours and 22 minutes behind. Sainz has dropped to 48th place in the overall standings. After the difficult stage, the Spaniard criticized the road book.
Initially, Sainz kept the pace of the front runners up to 120 km. Then he lost six minutes, but it became problematic at kilometer 257. There was general chaos there on Sunday – in all classes. Many got lost and searched for the right way for a long time.
Sainz reached this point shortly after Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb. But Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz didn’t find the right way. There they lost the two hours. Sainz’s face later spoke volumes in the bivouac.
“I am very disappointed because at this point I followed a route with 10 degrees. Sometimes that changed to 300 degrees. So we thought we were wrong and tried again,” explains Sainz. “Lots of cars, motorcycles, and quads have done that too.”
“How many people got lost there? Either we’re all stupid, or … There are a lot of Dakars, but good … I’m very disappointed. If the Dakar wants it that way and it happens on the second day, then that just happens. What a shame. “
Mattias Ekström is also doing a “picnic tour”
But Ekström also had difficulties with navigation. The Swede and his co-driver Emil Bergkvist are one hour and 45 minutes behind. This means that they have dropped to 37th place in the overall ranking.
It became difficult from kilometer 240 onwards. “Up until then our pace was very good,” says Bergkvist. “Then we had a little picnic tour, but we weren’t alone. There were more than 30 vehicles there. But we didn’t want to spend the night in the desert.”
“There,” adds Ekström, “there were maybe 50 vehicles on the picnic tour. It is frustrating that we were previously in second place behind Nasser. When we finally got to the service park, we were ashamed. But our boss was proud of our pace. The goal is now full attack to win a stage. “
David Castera does not accept road book criticism
What caused the chaos? In the road book there was a right turn of 42 degrees at kilometer 257.6. It also stated that after 200 meters you had to take “an average direction” of ten degrees to the left.
After three more entries there was a hidden waypoint (WPC) ten kilometers later. That made it even more complicated because to trigger it you have to drive past it in a 200 meter radius. Many left him out and received a 15-minute penalty.
“It was a very simple entry,” said rally director David Castera to the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com. “The key is the emphasis on following the main route. A lot of people got it wrong because the route turned in different directions.”
“That caused the confusion. But that’s the way it is. Every day someone complains about a difficult entry. It was a clear entry and the same for everyone. Some got it right, others didn’t.”
“It’s a complicated task, of course, but Nasser Al-Attiyah didn’t make a mistake. It shows that if you followed the instructions, you could find this point. Of the favorites, only Carlos lost a lot of time.”
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