gennaio 17, 2024 - Dakar Classic

Magnificent views offer many paths to choose from on Stage Nine of the 2024 Dakar Rally

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale.

The navigation riddles returned on Stage Nine of the 2024 Dakar Rally as the current crop of race leaders defended their spots at the top. The convoy tackled the 417-kilometre timed special stage between Ha'il and AlUla and encountered a host of hidden waypoints that made it difficult to keep things on track. Only three stages now remain before the chequered flag flies in Yanbu on Friday, January 19... it's starting to look like now or never for the chasing pack.

Story of Stage Nine: Navigating the Dakar

Sébastien Loeb was back on the power in his Prodrive Hunter on Stage Nine and chipping away at the deficit between himself and Ultimate class leader Carlos Sainz. Loeb took a total of 4m14s out of Sainz during the 417-kilometre stage between Ha'il and AlUla despite suffering his fair share of misfortune.
"We had two punctures in the middle of the stage so at the end I had to be a bit careful not to have a third one. The gap is still big [to Sainz], but we have three stages to go so we will continue to push on the next days." – Sébastien Loeb
It was power in numbers for Team Audi Sport on Stage Nine as the three Audi RS Q e-trons of Sainz, Stéphane Peterhansel and Mattias Ekström stuck together. The tactic for the remaining days is clear, Peterhansel and Ekström will stick to Sainz like glue so they can lend assistance if needed.
"I'm happy with the stage, keeping in mind that I opened quite a lot. At the end it was very stressful inside the car when the navigation was very difficult. We rode as three cars together today and that was good. I knew I had some support behind me." – Carlos Sainz
Behind the two-horse fight between Sainz and Loeb for the overall Ultimate class win comes a three-way contest for the last spot on the podium. Lucas Moraes is currently third but he has Guillaume de Mévius in fourth and Giniel de Villiers in fifth waiting to pounce on any mistakes in the coming days.
"We're still third overall but lost some time to fourth today. We're still here with three to go, let's keep fighting." – Lucas Moraes
It was more steady stuff from Seth Quintero in his Toyota GR DKR Hilux and Laia Sanz behind the wheel of her Astara CR6-T on Stage Nine. Sanz is currently 15th overall in the Ultimate category.
"I think it was the most tiring day physically for me. It was also demanding for the car. In the first part it was hard to have good grip and in the second part in the stones we slowed down just to be careful. We want to make it to the end." – Laia Sanz
It was another day to forget for defending Ultimate class champion Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari exited the stage shortly after starting it due to a mechanical problem.
Challenger class leader Mitch Guthrie Jr. is so far nailing the right balance between protecting his advantage and maintaining race rhythm. The American's cushion at the beginning of Stage Nine stood at half and hour but by the end of the day it had been slightly reduced to 28m35s.
"Everyone was pushing really hard so that makes it tough for us. We're leading so we want to take care of the car but we also don't want to lose too much time. I was going good until I made a mistake. I hit a rock pretty hard and I didn't know if the car was OK so I wanted to take it easy until the finish." – Mitch Guthrie Jr.
Getting closer to Guthrie Jr. on Stage Nine was second placed Cristina Gutiérrez, also driving a Taurus T3 Max. With the next three ranked drivers – Chaleco López, Rokas Baciuška and Austin Jones – also making time on the leader today it's clear that this group intend on making it a race until the very end.
"It was a hard day with a lot of navigation and a lot of rocks. Chaleco (López) is pushing hard from the back. I'm happy because we could take some minutes from Mitch (Guthrie Jr.). The car is working perfectly and we still have three days to go." – Cristina Gutiérrez
It was a tough stage for local favourite Dania Akeel who slipped to 26th overall after running into trouble between Ha'il and AlUla.
A one-two-three result on Stage Nine for Honda increased their advantage at the front of the Bike race. Overall leader Ricky Brabec leads Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's pair of Kevin Benavides and Toby Price by a significant margin. With stages running out a third Dakar win for either Kevin or Toby is looking like an uphill task.
"I made one little mistake at one waypoint and lost a bit of ground there. Other than that the day's been pretty good. I'm glad to be through it in one piece. It was really hard to see the stones in the sun." – Toby Price
It's also a long way back from Brabec to Husqvarna rider Luciano Benavides and Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing biker Daniel Sanders. Both these bikers have battled bravely for ten days of racing and are geared up for a final push.
"It was a rough day, but it's another day closer to the finish. I tried my best at the start but I was struggling all day. It was important to just make it to the finish line in one piece. I had a few close calls so I decided to settle it down and just cruise on home." – Daniel Sanders
Tomorrow's Stage 10 puts plenty more rocks in the way of the convoy as they are tasked with a 371-kilometre loop around the AlUla bivouac. Watch out for race leaders playing it safe, but not too safe while their rivals launch attacks.

- Fotogallery (10)

2a75ef82-e443-424e-98c0-b5ba28446640

3840x2560, 3MB

06dd3fd0-6626-4c0a-b5b1-d7dd7efb8895

3840x2560, 4MB

6eac3472-b20c-4d0b-b82b-bd915d3c9859

3840x2560, 4MB

8b521a9f-a908-46eb-ac86-e9727914fe79

3840x2560, 3MB

9b09a370-ae32-4f26-8634-98fe4f9d5377

3840x2560, 5MB

af982cd6-9cec-4e5e-83b4-6dcb274636fb

3840x2560, 3MB

f398ccce-f265-4e5a-895c-da9dcf1af5d4

3840x2560, 4MB

fd0a5c37-b40c-4241-a4e2-f2a0812c8df5

3840x2560, 2MB

06669d26-32c1-421c-bc8a-a2254eae199b

600x171, 56KB

0cd88cf6-307a-41d3-8c49-3ca946509467

3840x2560, 2MB

News correlate

gennaio 22, 2024	gennaio 22, 2024	gennaio 22, 2024
Cristina Gutiérrez claims historic win for Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team at Dakar in Saudi Arabia	Quotes from Team Audi Sport on the Dakar Rally victory	Legendary status secured on the shifting sands of the Dakar Rally
Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. There was drama right up until the finish line of the 2024 Dakar Rally and...	Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. Audi made history at the 2024 Dakar Rally with the first victory for an el...	Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. History was made at the 46th Dakar Rally when the Ultimate class was won f...
Automotive Racing	Automotive Racing	Automotive Racing
#dakar #redbull #racing #redbull #rally #podio #auto #racing #dakarrally #event	#dakar #tecnologia #concept #sport #competition #rally #people #motorsport #auto #audi	#dakar #redbull #racing #rally #people #automotive #auto #event
Scarica tutto	Scarica tutto	Scarica tutto
9	17	9

Ti potrebbe interessare anche

gennaio 17, 2024	gennaio 17, 2024	gennaio 17, 2024
P20 per Tommaso Montanari	Premio Dakar Spirit per Jane Daniels	Stage 9: the riders are still in the Top 15.
La decima tappa ha portato i concorrenti ad esplorare le bellissime formazioni rocciose che caratterizzano la regione, una delle p...	La corsa della Dakar continua ad un ritmo serrato e la carovana ha raggiunto la zona montagnosa di Al Ula nel punto più a nord ove...	Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale.For this ninth day of racing, the riders set off from Ha'il towards Alula f...
Racing	Sport Events Racing	Sport Events Racing
#dakar #racing #moto #competition #rally #fanticmotor #gare #tommasomontanari	#dakar #sport #moto #rally #premio #fanticmotor #gare	#dakar #racing #rally #podio #sherco #event #shercofactoryrallyteam
Scarica tutto	Scarica tutto	Scarica tutto
2	2	8