Severe setback for Audi during the sixth stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Stephane Peterhansel had to retire from the race after an accident. And Carlos Sainz also lost a lot of time due to an accident and no longer has a chance of overall victory.
Nasser Al-Attiyah came through well and extended his lead in the standings to more than an hour. Toyota occupies the first four places.
Due to the bad weather and heavy rain, the route for the sixth stage had to be changed. The capital Riyadh was approached directly from Ha’il. The special originally planned for Friday was shortened by 100 kilometers.
The scored section was “only” 358 kilometers. It was still a long day for the participants, because including the connecting route, 918 kilometers had to be covered. The first cars left the bivouac in Ha’il just after six in the morning.
Disaster for Audi
Al-Attiyah had to open the route after yesterday’s victory. Peterhansel attacked from the start. “Monsieur Dakar” led the intermediate standings after 84 and 186 kilometers, a few seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah.
After 207 kilometers, Peterhansel increased his virtual lead over Al-Attiyah to one and a half minutes. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) followed a few seconds behind. At this point, Sainz had lost three minutes and Sebastien Loeb (BRX) five.
But then came the disaster for Audi. At kilometer 212, first Peterhansel and then Sainz ran aground. There was no collision between the two teammates, but rather two separate accidents.
Boulanger flown to hospital for back pain
The Peterhansel crash was worse. His co-driver Edouard Boulanger complained of back pain and had to be flown by helicopter to a hospital in Buraidah for further examinations. With that, the rally is officially over for Peterhansel.
Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz were unhurt. They tried to repair their Audi in the desert. At the time of writing this article, he had not yet reached the goal. So Sainz lost several hours.
And another fellow favorite ran into big problems. Local hero Al-Rajhi, who has been fighting for the podium so far in the general classification, stopped at 216 km. Suddenly and surprisingly, the right rear wheel suspension broke.
Al-Rajhi and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz had to wait for the assistance truck to repair the damage. “There’s nothing we can do here in the desert alone, so we have to wait for the race truck,” von Zitzewitz sighs. “Today there would have been something for us.”
Al-Attiyah is now an hour ahead
While some of the favorites faltered, everything went according to plan for Al-Attiyah. After a journey time of just over three hours, the defending champion secured his third stage win of the year.
“It was a very difficult stage, not easy,” comments the veteran. “We attacked. 40 kilometers from the finish, the pump for the power steering broke. Oil dripped out, which we have to fix before we go to Riyadh.”
In the overall standings, Al-Attiyah is now an hour ahead of his teammate Henk Lategan. New third in the overall result is rookie Lucas Moraes, who has the German Timo Gottschalk as his co-driver. “What a day,” said Gottschalk.
“A very nice stage with more and more difficult dunes than expected. We had good speed at the beginning but had to change a puncture after we landed at an angle and the tire came off the rim. We’re quite happy. Everything’s great today. “
In the overall standings, Toyota occupies the first four places. Mattias Ekström has moved up to fifth place. The last Audi driver in the top 10 is 1:46 hours behind Al-Attiyah.
Loeb also benefited from the problems of the competition this time and is now sixth. The Frenchman finished today’s stage in second place, three and a half minutes behind Al-Attiyah.
Stage 6 Result (Top 10):
01. Al-Attiyah/Baumel (Toyota) – 3:13:12 hours
02. Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) +3:29 minutes
03. Lategan/Cummings (Toyota) +8:52
04. Chicherit/Winoc (Prodrive Hunter) +9:12
05. Zala/Fiuza (Prodrive Hunter) +10:33
06. Ekstrom/Bergkvist (Audi) +10:59
07. Moraes/Gottschalk (Toyota) +11:36
08. Serradori/Minaudier (Century) +12:36
09. Przygonski/Monleon (X-raid Mini JCW Plus) +12:45
10. Baragwanath/Cremer (Century)+16:04
Overall ranking after 6 of 14 stages (top 10):
01. Al-Attiyah/Baumel (Toyota) – 24:00:48 hours
02. Lategan/Cummings (Toyota) +1:06:50 hours
03. Moraes/Gottschalk (Toyota) +1:13:19
04. de Villier/Murphy (Toyota) +1:44:38
05. Ekstrom/Bergkvist (Audi) +1:46:55
06. Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) +1:57:10
07. Dumas/Delfino (Rebellion) +2:13:07
08. Prokop/Chytka (Ford) +2:20:30
09. Baragwanath/Cremer (Century)+2:49:27
10. Han/Li (Hanwei) +3:04:31