If he carries on like this, he will make them really angry… Whilst to date the victories of Sébastien Loeb were fairly logical given the profiles of the WRC type stages, today the nine times world champion and his loyal co-pilot Daniel Elena demonstrated that they had what it takes when it comes to navigation.
Of course, setting off behind the experienced Peterhansel and Sainz, the inseparable duo were not completely left to their own devices. However, they still had to show that they were capable of following the pace.
In fact, it was Loeb who set the pace throughout the day. Behind him, his team-mates Sainz and Peterhansel exchanged virtual second place several times, before the Spaniard grabbed it on the finishing line. At the end of the stage, he beat the five times winner of the event by 2’38”. Behind the 3 Peugeots, Nasser Al Attiyah (Mini) did what he could, but once again had to resign himself to the domination of the DKR 2008. Efficient and powerful, at the end of this first marathon stage the “Lions” have also demonstrated they are reliable, which will not be any consolation to the Qatari… In the general standings, Loeb now boasts a lead of 7’48” over Stéphane Peterhansel and 13’26” over Carlos Sainz. Al Attiyah (Mini) is more than 14 minutes behind and must be asking, like many others, just how far can Sébastien Loeb go?
Third last year, Toby Price has given the KTMs a second wind. Leading at all the intermediate points throughout the day, the Australian outclassed his rivals. Antoine Méo, second on the special, also enjoyed an excellent day. On his first experience of the Dakar, the five times world enduro champion is showing day after day that he is a very, very fast learner. Following on from the Frenchman, Stefan Svitko’s and Matthias Walkner’s performances meant that KTM grabbed the first four places. In the general standings, Gonçalves, finishing back in twelfth place today, 8 minutes behind the winner, retains the lead of the rally, 1’45” ahead of Svitko and 1’47” in front of Price.
In the quad category, the day was marked by a tidal wave of misfortune that washed away some of the leading lights. Between crashes and mechanical problems, there were many withdrawals. Brazilian rider Marcelo Medeiros, Qatari Abu-Issa, Poland’s Rafal Sonik, the title holder, and Chilean Ignacio Casale have all exited the race this evening. Alexis Hernandez, the day’s winner, takes control of the general standings, 48 seconds ahead of Alejandro Patronelli and Sergei Karyakin.
Top ten overall provisional end stage 5:
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Pos. N° Name Make Time Variation Penalty 1 314 LOEB (FRA), ELENA (MCO) PEUGEOT 000:30:06 00:00:00 2 303 SAINZ (ESP), CRUZ (ESP) PEUGEOT 000:30:38 00:00:32 00:00:00 3 300 AL-ATTIYAH (QAT), BAUMEL (FRA) MINI 000:30:45 00:00:39 00:00:00 4 302 PETERHANSEL (FRA), COTTRET (FRA) PEUGEOT 000:30:47 00:00:41 00:00:00 5 312 GORDON (USA), WALCH (USA) GORDINI 000:31:04 00:00:58 00:00:00 6 311 TEN BRINKE (NLD), COLSOUL (BEL) TOYOTA 000:31:17 00:01:11 00:00:00 7 301 DE VILLIERS (ZAF), VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU) TOYOTA 000:31:35 00:01:29 00:00:00 8 324 CHICHERIT (FRA), WINOCQ (FRA) BUGGY 000:31:38 00:01:32 00:00:00 9 315 HIRVONEN (FIN), PERIN (FRA) MINI 000:31:39 00:01:33 00:00:00 10 319 POULTER (ZAF), HOWIE (ZAF) TOYOTA 000:31:45 00:01:39
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Dakar Bikes, Stage 5: Price fastest, Goncalves holds the lead
KTM rider Toby Price surged up the 2016 Dakar Rally leaderboard with his second stage win on Thursday, as Honda’s Paulo Goncalves held the overall lead.
After a relatively subdued two days since his Stage 2 victory, Price rebounded in style to lead through every waypoint of the 327km stage, which took the competitors across the Bolivian border to Uyuni.
The Australian ended the day 2m21s clear of Red Bull factory teammate Antoine Meo, with KTM privateer Stefan Svitko making it a clean sweep of the podium for the Austrian marque in third, just two seconds shy of Meo.
As a result, Price jumps from seventh to third in the general classification, 1m47s behind Goncalves – who a finished distant 12th on the stage – and a scant two seconds behind Svitko.
Honda’s Joan Barreda was the best non-KTM rider of the day, losing almost six minutes to Price, and slips one place in the overall standings to fourth, albeit just 2m27s back from teammate Goncalves.
Another factory KTM rider in the form of Matthias Walkner completes the top five, having finished the day fourth, ahead of Kevin Benavides, who drops to sixth after failing to trouble the top 10 during Thursday’s stage.
Dakar rookie and former enduro world champion Meo moves up two places to seventh ahead of factory Husqvarna duo Ruben Faria and Pablo Quintanilla, while Alain Duclos (Sherco) continues to hang on to 10th overall.
Laia Sanz meanwhile had her time given back to her after stopping to help stricken competitor Pela Renet on Wednesday, and now sits 18th.
Dakar Quads, Stage 5: Hernandez inherits lead as Casale falters
Peruvian rider Alexis Hernandez has moved into the lead of 2016 Dakar Rally’s quad category as the dominant Ignacio Casale was stopped by an engine failure.
Casale was 11 minutes ahead of nearest rival Marcelo Medeiros and was set to further increase his advantage over the field after Medeiros fell early in Stage 5, breaking his collarbone and retiring from the rally.
The runaway leader would then go on to battle Hernandez and Honda’s top man Mohammed Abu-Issa for the stage victory, a task made easier when Abu-Issa came to a halt with electrical problems at the halfway point.
However, just as Casale edged ahead of Hernandez by five seconds at WP7, his engine failed and what was set to be a 15-minute lead evaporated.
Hernandez, who had originally finished runner-up to Marcos Patronelli in Stage 4 but was given the win when the distance was adjusted, went on to cruise to a second consecutive victory – and passed Alejandro Patronelli for the overall lead.
Alejandro ended the stage third, losing out to Brian Baragwanath by 20 seconds, and now trails by 48 seconds overall to Hernandez.
Marcos, meanwhile, lost almost eight minutes to Hernandez, finishing the run in eighth.
Casale did manage to continue after a while and crossed the line with a loss of an hour and 19 minutes, dropping to 14th overall, his victory bid suffering a massive blow.
The hectic stage also claimed a casualty in 2015 winner Rafal Sonik, whose title defence came to an end 215km into the 327km run.