Toyota’s Yazeed Al Rajhi and Nasser Al Attiyah (Dacia) surged up the Dakar Rally overall virtual ranking on Sunday’s first half of the mammoth 947km 48-hour chrono stage. They are now first and second overall, 1m19s apart, while Mattias Ekstrom moved into third with his Ford Raptor.
It was a day of setbacks for two key overall contenders. Carlos Sainz flipped over in his Ford Raptor, and although the Spanish veteran was able to resume after his teammate Mitch Guthrie helped him to right his machine, the accident left him nearly 50 minutes behind at day’s end. Meanwhile, a defective fan on his Dacia hamstrung rally legend Sebastien Loeb, costing the Frenchman half an hour.
Among the surprises on the first half of the 48-hour Chrono was the performance of Ultimate class rookie Toby Price and his Overdrive Toyota (pictured). The two-time Dakar bike champ got his teeth into the task with fellow bike-winning co-driver Sam Sunderland and the duo set up camp just 16m20s off the stage leaders.
Giniel de Villiers and Guillaume De Mévius can also be satisfied with their day’s work, joining the frontrunners in covering over 600km. Also reaching the penultimate rest stop of the 48-hour chrono were Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Lucas Moraes and America’s Seth Quintero.
But the American in the spotlight Sunday was Brock Heger, as he and Polaris teammate Xavier de Soultrait were untouchable in the SSV class, while wind blew their closest rivals Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli and “Chaleco” López off course. Sebastian Guayasamín and America’s Sara Price were also among the victims of the stage, leaving Heger and De Soultrait comfortably atop of the leader board.
The two Sébastien Loeb Racing drivers, who enjoy the backing of the Polaris factory, are the only entrants in their class who made it to camp D. Their stablemate Florent Vayssade was running third at the previous time check, setting up a potential Polaris 48 h chrono stage podium sweep in Bisha tomorrow, which would be an unprecedented achievement for the American manufacturer at the Dakar.
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Among the bikes, the three strongest riders since the beginning of the race extended their dominance. Daniel Sanders, the winner of the prologue and stage 1, finished comfortably ahead of America’s Ricky Brabec and Ross Branch. The Australian will spend the night in camp E, where he holds a virtual overall lead of 4m02s over Brabec and 5m59s over Branch.
In the Challenger class, Nicolas Cavigliasso is in a prime position to win the 48h chrono stage and seize the overall lead after leading home Paul Spierings, while America’s Corbin Leaverton remains in the mix, sixth in the virtual overall ranking, right behind Red Bull Junior teammate Gonçalo Guerreiro.