Dakar 2020 - Stage 9 Recap
Wadi Al Dawasir > Haradh: Total=886 km / Liaison=476 km & Special=410 km
Today’s Stage 9 took competitors north and then east from Wadi Al-Dawasir to Haradh on the longest overall day of the 2020 Dakar. A mixed surface day of lots of rough rocky tracks and a lot of dunes. 150 kilometres of rocky terrain in an environment that was different to the canyons and mountains of the first week. This time, they raced past immense cliff and along the edge of the precipices. As the route headed east for the second part of the special, sand was predominant: on fast tracks or on vast expanses lacking in any relief. As they reach Haradh, they will also approach the “Empty Quarter”, which makes up the forthcoming two-day marathon stage.
Category Leaders
Bikes
Pablo Quintanilla moved up a gear on the way to Haradh to finally become a stage winner in 2020 ahead of the title holder Toby Price, who was also forced to go on the attack to try and reduce the gap opened up so far by Ricky Brabec in the general standings. The Honda rider still sits calmly at the top of the pile with 21 minutes in hand over Quintanilla and 27 over Price.
Cars
In the cars, it was “Mr. Dakar” Stéphane Peterhansel from Nasser Al-Attiyah at the finishing line on stage 9, where the Frenchman triumphed by just 15 seconds! The two men took advantage to regain time on a struggling Carlos Sainz, who could only manage P6 on the stage, and is now in more danger than ever of losing the lead with Al-Attiyah just 24 seconds behind on the General Standings and Peterhansel just 6 minutes further back. 6 minutes seperate the top 3 after 9 stages and over 35 hours of racing! With the 4WD Hilux coming into it’s own in the second half of the rally, and the second Marathon Stage coming up, any slip ups by either of the Minis, and it could be all over for them.
And have a look at the name next to that Dakar Rookie badge next to P10… once again I get to say “told you so!”
Red Bull Motorsport’s Dakar Daily Report
https://www.redbull.com/za-en/events/dakar-rally-saudi-arabia-2020/live/stage-9-dakar-rally-2020
Nice interview towards the end with Nasser Al-Attiyah, including mention of the fact that he’ll be going to his 7th (!!) Olympics Games this year to once again represent Qatar in the Men’s Skeet Shooting competition.
Dakar Bonus Videos
A host of bonus video clips for you today, to make up for the lateness of today’s post…
First off, two Dakar Eduactionals which explain the difference between Special and Liaison Stages, and then between Teams and Amateurs.
Then, the next Dakar Epic Story. This timewe look at the epic story of early stage winner, the Botswana national Ross Branch:
A finally, a Dakar Portrait of Jamie McCanney, the British Yamaha rider who won the World Junior Enduro Championships, and is his first Dakar this year:
Dakar 2020 - Stage 10 Preview
Stage 10 tomorrow is the first part of the second Marathon Stage in this years’ rally. Marathon Stages combine two consecutive days of racing with competitors receiving their route books only a short while before the start of the stage. Competitors are also only allowed a short period in which to do work on their vehicles by themselves at the end of the first day, before the vehicles go into Parc Ferme conditions overnight.
The stage tomorrow sees the rally move from Haradh to Shubaytah with just a short 74 km Liaison and a long 534 km Special.
The marathon stage demands the ultimate quality in rally racing: endurance. The special in the first part sends the drivers and crews out into the vast off-road expanses of the Empty Quarter. It’s not a place where you should linger, as the route for the last 30 kilometres goes right through the dunes. And night falls in a flash! On arrival, only assistance between competitors is authorised.
