In the second stage of the Dakar Rally, the victory was won by the representative of the “Toyota Gazoo Racing” team, Nasir El-Atija, who has now risen to second place in the general standings of the competition. Meanwhile, Sébastien Loeb lost almost a lap and a half during the day with flat tyres. Unlucky day also for the main Lithuanian crews.
On the way from the Red Sea coast to Alulu, the athletes measured a 430 km long speed stage, but the total distance traveled was 590 km.
El-Attiyah lost around a minute and a half to then leader Erik van Loon in the penultimate timeslot in the car class but was quicker in the closing kilometers to win by 14 seconds over the Overdrive driver. After an unsuccessful first stage, last year’s Dakar winner El-Attiyah has moved up to second place, while Carlos Sainz maintains the lead with a lead of more than two minutes. Today, the Audi team representative was third fastest. Matteo Seradori, on the other hand, is now behind Sainz and El-Attiya in the general standings, losing five minutes.
After the first stage, Loeb was second, but suffered three punctures on this day, losing less than an hour and a half and seriously damaging his hopes of a first Dakar win. Currently, the legendary racing driver has already dropped out of the top thirty.
It was also a difficult day for the two main Lithuanian driver crews. Vaidots Žala ripped all the spare tires three times and remained on the track waiting for the technical assistance car. Subsequently the front differential broke and it was not possible to reach the finish line, but Žala is expected to be back on track tomorrow. Benedikts Hawk also lost a lot of time, but reached the finish line more than three hours behind the winners.
In the heavy car class, the Lithuanians also failed today. Although Vaidot Paškevich’s crew had very good speed (they even took third place after the first checkpoint), the equipment broke down and they had to stand still on the track. First a flat tire that needed replacing, then the accelerator pedal refused to respond. It was not possible to get to the finish line, but tomorrow there is hope to continue the race. In the heavy car class, the stage was won by Aleš Loprais in the car “Praga”, who is now also the new leader of the general classification.
Meanwhile, Mason Klein won the motorcycle class on a KTM motorcycle and became the overall leader of the Dakar Rally. After the second stage, his closest followers are Toby Price and Joan Bareda Borth, but the results are tight, as always in this class, and future battles are difficult to predict.
On Tuesday, the Dakar Rally will cover a 669km stage from Alula to Hailu. The length of the high-speed section will be 447 km.
Results of the Dakar rally after the second stage
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