Loeb relegates to third place in the overall ranking of the Dakar Rally

Orlando Teranova

• On January 7, athletes had to complete a 348-kilometer stage.

• Motorcycles and quadricycles were stopped in the first neutralization zone after 101 kilometers. The deterioration of the road caused by yesterday’s car and truck ride, combined with the recent heavy rain, meant that the track was impassable. Thus, in both classes, the results were determined by the 101-kilometer mark.

• Results are not yet available

• The leader in the light prototype class after six stages is Francisco Lopez Kontardo, who is 23 minutes ahead of teammate Sebastian Eriksson. Meanwhile, Sets Kintero continues to set a new record, who, including the prologue stage, has already won six stages of this year’s Dakar Rally. The record is currently nine wins.

• In the car class at the 221-kilometer mark, Nasser Al-Attia was the leader, but in the end the athlete was likely to deliberately reduce his speed to avoid winning the stage, which would mean that he would have to start first in the next stage. Al-Atija has previously admitted in interviews that he does not try to win in the special stages at any cost, which gives him a better starting position in the following stages.

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Nasers Al-Atija

• Orlando Teranova from Argentina took the lead later and won in the end. He lost a minute and six seconds to Audi driver Matthias Ekstrom and third to Yazid Al-Raji. Al-Atijam finished tenth place (+0: 06: 16), but Lithuanian Vaidotas Žala won the high 11th place. Unsuccessful stage for Sebastian Leb, who lost 21 minutes to the winner of the stage.

• Antanas Juknevičius and Didzis Zariņš, who have completed the second stage in a row without technical problems, are currently ranked 34th at the finish.

• Carlos Sains and Stefan Peteransel lost a lot of time in the second round in a row. Sains was the fastest in the first place, but after that the athlete stood still for a long time after the 55-kilometer mark. With the help of a teammate, they were both able to continue the race, where Sains lost 41 minutes to the winner and Peteransels lost 42 minutes.

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• Al-Atiya is a convincing leader in the overall standings. Al-Raji rose to second place, lagging behind by 50 minutes and 19 seconds, while Label fell to third place after today’s failure – (+0: 50: 25). Vladimirs Vasiljevs, whose helmsman is Oleg Uperenko (starts with a motorsport license issued by the Latvian Automobile Federation), takes the high sixth place.

• Damage has already risen to tenth place! So far, Žala’s best result in the Dakar Rally is in 2019, when she won 12th place. Zariņš’s crew is currently losing 27 hours to the leader.

• Kamaz driver Andrejs Karginovs showed the fastest time in the truck class.

The information will be updated …

Overall rating in the car class:

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