German manufacture dominance in the United Arab Emirates continues. The #19 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS of Laurens Vanthoor, Stuart Leonard, Michael Meadows and Alain Ferté won the Dubai 24 Hour, Audi's first victory in the event. All eleven editions of the two-around-the-clock endurance race has been won by a German manufacture.
The #19 Audi completed 588 laps and won by five laps over the #16 Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Oliver Webb, Adam Christodoulou, Abdulaziz al Faisal, Oliver Morley and Frank Montecalvo. The #16 Mercedes started 98th on the grid after a fire during practice destroyed the team's first car. The team ended up using a show car to compete. The #4 C.ABT Racing Audi of Christer Jöns, Andreas Weishaupt, Issac Tutumlu, Matias Henkola and Daniel Abt rounded out the podium after completing 580 laps.
The #10 Hofor-Racing Mercedes of Michael Kroll, Chantal Kroll, Christiaan Frankenhout, Kenneth Heyer and Roland Eggiman finished fourth, ten laps down. The #10 Mercedes was the top A6-Am class finisher. Rounding out the top five was the #14 Optimum Motorsport Audi of Flick Haigh, Ryan Ratcliffe, Joe Osborne and Frank Stippler, 13 laps down. In sixth was the #22 Preci-Spark Mercedes of David Jones, Godfrey Jones, Morgan Jones, Philip Jones and Gareth Jones. The #34 Car Collection Motorsport Audi of Elmar Grimm, Ingo Vogler, Max Edelhoff, Gustav Edelhoff and Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff finished seventh, 15 laps down.
The first non-German manufacture was the #333 V8 Racing Corvette of Nicky Pastorelli, Alex van t'Hoff, Rich Abresch and Wolf Nathan in eighth after completing 572 laps. Two Lamborghini Huracán GT3s rounded out the top ten. The #7 HB Racing of Robert Renauer, Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn and Alfred Renauer finished ninth, 18 laps down with the #26 Konrad Motorsport entry of Rolf Ineichen, Mark Ineichen, Christian Engelhart, Fabio Babini and Franz Konrad rounding out the top ten, 19 laps down. The #26 Lamborghini had an engine failure while running third with less than a half hour to go.
In the 991 class, the #40 Lechner Racing Middle East Porsche of Jaap van Lagen, Saeed Al Mehairi, Bashar Mardini, Sven Mûller and Hasher Al Maktoum were victorious, finishing 11th overall and completing 568 laps.
The SP2 class winner was the #64 Porsche Lorient Racing Porsche of Frédéric Ancel, Christophe Bourret, Pascal Gibon, Jean-François Demorge and Philippe Polette. The French team finished 16th overall, completing 553 laps.
The #229 Century Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 of Anna Walewska, Nathan Freke, Aleksander Schjerpen and Tim Oliphant finished 24th and won the SP3 class after completing 536 laps.
The #1 Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing Seat León Cup of Ramzi Moutran, Nabil Moutran, Sami Moutran and Phil Quaife won the TCR class in 32nd, completing 524 laps.
In 34th, completing 521 laps, was the A3 class winning #208 Team Altran Peugeot of Kim Holmgaard, Guillaume Roman, Thierry Blaise and Stéphane Ventaja.
In A2 class, the #57 LAP57 Racing Team Honda Integra of Mohammed Al Owais, Abdullah Al Hammadi, Nadir Zuhour, Junichi Umemoto and Rupesh Channake won after completing 511 laps, 39th overall.
Finally, the #148 QSR BMW M235i of Pieter Vanneste, Jimmy de Breucker, Mario Timmers, Luc Moortgat and Dylan Derdaele won the Cup1 class, finishing 43rd and completed 505 laps.
The #19 Audi lead 279 laps. Vanthoor becomes the first Belgian to win the Dubai 24 Hour. Ferté became the first French driver to win the event since Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac won in 2010 with Marco Holzer. Vanthoor and Leonard won the Dubai 24 Hour less than a month after winning Audi's first Sepang 12 Hours.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Friday, January 15, 2016
Hirvonen Wins First Career Dakar Stage
The penultimate stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally was the longest stage of this year's race and it saw two competitors pick up their first stage victories.
Mikko Hirvonen won his first career stage. The Finn is competing in his first Dakar Rally. Hirvonen was victorious by nine seconds over fellow Mini driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. In third place on the stage was Leeroy Poulter, who finished 45 seconds back. Giniel de Villiers finished 57 seconds back in fourth. Nani Roma rounded out the top five, three minutes and nine seconds behind Hirvonen. Vladimir Vasilyev finished four minutes and 23 seconds back in sixth and Orlando Terranova finished six minutes back in seventh. Sébastien Loeb finished eighth, eight minutes and 33 seconds back. Cyril Despres and Stéphane Peterhansel rounded out the top ten, nine minutes and 11 minutes back respectively.
Peterhansel leads heading into the final stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally and is on the verge of his 12th Dakar victory and sixth in the car class. He leads Al-Attiyah by 40 minutes and 59 seconds. De Villiers is an hour and 11 minutes back with Hirvonen trailing the South African by just under four and a half minutes. Fifth place is Poulter. He is an hour and 36 minutes back. Roma is ten minutes outside the top five. Despres is an hour and 55 minutes back in seventh. Vasilyev, Loeb and Harry Hunt round out the top ten. Vasilyev and Loeb are over two hours back while Hunt trails by over three hours.
Hélder Rodrigues won his first stage of this year's race. The Portuguese rider won by four minutes and 32 seconds over overall bike class leader Toby Price. Kevin Benavides finished 23 seconds behind the Australian. Štefan Svitko finished sixth minutes and 48 seconds back with Adrien Van Beveren in fifth, 40 seconds behind the Slovakian. Pablo Quintanilla finished sixth, 12 minutes and 23 seconds back. Gerard Farres finished 17 minutes and four seconds back with Armand Monleon finishing 11 seconds behind Farres. Oliver Pain was 21 seconds behind Monleon and Jacopo Cerutti finished 53 seconds behind Monleon.
Price leads Svitko by 37 minutes and 39 seconds. Quantinalla is 53 minutes back with Benavides and Rodrigues both over 57 minutes back and only one second separating the two riders for fourth. An hour and 14 minutes back is Antoine Meo. Van Beveren trails by an hour and 36 minutes. Farres is an hour and 54 minutes back. American Ricky Brabec is ninth, two hours and three minutes behind Price. Monleon is over three hours back in tenth.
Marcos Patronelli won his third stage and extended his quad class lead. He won by nine seconds over Bolivian Walter Nosiglia. Sergei Karyakin finished 49 seconds back in third. Jeremias González finished fourth, three minutes and 47 seconds back. Alejandro Patronelli finished four minutes and 15 seconds back of his brother in fifth.
Marcos leads his brother Alejandro by four minutes and 23 seconds. Both riders are vying to become the first three-time winner in the quad class. Karyakin is an hour and 52 minutes behind Marcos in third. Brian Baragnwanath is an hour and 57 minutes back. González is two hours and six minutes back in fifth.
Pieter Versluis won stage 12 in the truck class, his first victory since stage two. Federico Villagra finished three minutes and 14 seconds back in second with Hans Stacey finishing four seconds behind the Argentine. Jaroslav Valtr finished five minutes and a second back in fourth and Gerard de Rooy finished fifth, 23 seconds behind Valtr.
De Rooy leads the truck class overall by an hour and 13 minutes over Airat Mardeev. De Rooy is on the verge of his second Dakar victory. Villagra trails by an hour and 43 minutes. Ton Van Genugten and Stacey round out the top five, both are over two hours behind their fellow Dutchman.
The final stage of the Dakar Rally heads from Villa Carlos Paz to Rosario.
Mikko Hirvonen won his first career stage. The Finn is competing in his first Dakar Rally. Hirvonen was victorious by nine seconds over fellow Mini driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. In third place on the stage was Leeroy Poulter, who finished 45 seconds back. Giniel de Villiers finished 57 seconds back in fourth. Nani Roma rounded out the top five, three minutes and nine seconds behind Hirvonen. Vladimir Vasilyev finished four minutes and 23 seconds back in sixth and Orlando Terranova finished six minutes back in seventh. Sébastien Loeb finished eighth, eight minutes and 33 seconds back. Cyril Despres and Stéphane Peterhansel rounded out the top ten, nine minutes and 11 minutes back respectively.
Peterhansel leads heading into the final stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally and is on the verge of his 12th Dakar victory and sixth in the car class. He leads Al-Attiyah by 40 minutes and 59 seconds. De Villiers is an hour and 11 minutes back with Hirvonen trailing the South African by just under four and a half minutes. Fifth place is Poulter. He is an hour and 36 minutes back. Roma is ten minutes outside the top five. Despres is an hour and 55 minutes back in seventh. Vasilyev, Loeb and Harry Hunt round out the top ten. Vasilyev and Loeb are over two hours back while Hunt trails by over three hours.
Hélder Rodrigues won his first stage of this year's race. The Portuguese rider won by four minutes and 32 seconds over overall bike class leader Toby Price. Kevin Benavides finished 23 seconds behind the Australian. Štefan Svitko finished sixth minutes and 48 seconds back with Adrien Van Beveren in fifth, 40 seconds behind the Slovakian. Pablo Quintanilla finished sixth, 12 minutes and 23 seconds back. Gerard Farres finished 17 minutes and four seconds back with Armand Monleon finishing 11 seconds behind Farres. Oliver Pain was 21 seconds behind Monleon and Jacopo Cerutti finished 53 seconds behind Monleon.
Price leads Svitko by 37 minutes and 39 seconds. Quantinalla is 53 minutes back with Benavides and Rodrigues both over 57 minutes back and only one second separating the two riders for fourth. An hour and 14 minutes back is Antoine Meo. Van Beveren trails by an hour and 36 minutes. Farres is an hour and 54 minutes back. American Ricky Brabec is ninth, two hours and three minutes behind Price. Monleon is over three hours back in tenth.
Marcos Patronelli won his third stage and extended his quad class lead. He won by nine seconds over Bolivian Walter Nosiglia. Sergei Karyakin finished 49 seconds back in third. Jeremias González finished fourth, three minutes and 47 seconds back. Alejandro Patronelli finished four minutes and 15 seconds back of his brother in fifth.
Marcos leads his brother Alejandro by four minutes and 23 seconds. Both riders are vying to become the first three-time winner in the quad class. Karyakin is an hour and 52 minutes behind Marcos in third. Brian Baragnwanath is an hour and 57 minutes back. González is two hours and six minutes back in fifth.
Pieter Versluis won stage 12 in the truck class, his first victory since stage two. Federico Villagra finished three minutes and 14 seconds back in second with Hans Stacey finishing four seconds behind the Argentine. Jaroslav Valtr finished five minutes and a second back in fourth and Gerard de Rooy finished fifth, 23 seconds behind Valtr.
De Rooy leads the truck class overall by an hour and 13 minutes over Airat Mardeev. De Rooy is on the verge of his second Dakar victory. Villagra trails by an hour and 43 minutes. Ton Van Genugten and Stacey round out the top five, both are over two hours behind their fellow Dutchman.
The final stage of the Dakar Rally heads from Villa Carlos Paz to Rosario.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Al-Attiyah Wins Stage Eleven
The overall class leads stayed the same across the board after stage eleven of the 2016 Dakar Rally.
Nasser Al-Attiyah won his second stage of this year's race. Both have come after the rest day. The Qatari beat Sébastien Loeb by five minutes and 52 seconds with Mikko Hirvonen finishing third, seven minutes and a second back. Stéphane Peterhansel was fourth on the stage, eight minutes and five seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Fifth on the stage was Yazeed Al-Rajhi, 11 minutes and 57 second behind Al-Attiyah. Nani Roma finished 12 minutes and 14 seconds back in sixth with Giniel de Villiers 44 seconds behind Roma. Cyril Despres finished eighth, 14 minutes and 51 seconds back. Toyota drivers Leeroy Poulter and Vladimir Vasilyev rounded out the top ten, both finished over 20 minutes back. Robby Gordon was 11th, over 22 minutes back.
Peterhansel still leads overall but the gap to Al-Attiyah has dropped to 51 minutes. An hour and 17 minutes back is de Villiers. Hirvonen is just over five minutes behind the South African. Poulter trails Hirvonen by 24 minutes. Roma and Despres are the final two drivers within two hours of Peterhansel, an hour and 54 minutes and an hour and 56 minutes respectively. Vasilyev is two hours and 11 minutes back. Loeb trails by two hours and 25 minutes. Harry Hunt is tenth, two hours and 48 minutes back.
Gordon is over ten hours back in 28th.
Carlos Sainz has retired after a mechanical failure on stage ten. American Sheldon Creed was disqualified from the race after stage nine for skipping waypoints.
Antoine Meo picked up his second stage victory in the bike class. The Frenchman defeated class leader Toby Price by 18 seconds. Pablo Quintanilla finished third, two minutes and 48 seconds. Hélder Rodrigues was fourth, six minutes and two seconds behind Meo. Adrien Van Beveren finished sixth, 12 minutes and nine seconds back. Kevin Benavides finished four seconds back of Van Beveren. Štefan Svitko finished 26 seconds behind Benavides. American Ian Blythe was the surprise of the stage, finishing eighth, 21 minutes and 28 seconds back. Jordi Viladoms finished ninth, 25 minutes and 29 seconds back and Gerard Farres rounded out the top ten, 27 minutes and seven seconds back. Ricky Brabec finished less than a minute outside the top ten in 11th on stage eleven.
Price leads Svitko by over 35 minutes. Meo is now third, 43 minutes back and Quintanilla trails Meo by less than two minutes. Benavides is 57 minutes back in fifth. Rodrigues is an hour and two minutes back. An hour and 33 minutes back is Van Beveren with Brabec just over six minutes behind the Frenchman. Farres is an hour and 41 minutes back. Michael Metge is 10th, over three hours back.
Alejandro Patronelli won his first stage of this year's Dakar by a minute and six seconds over stage ten winner Brian Baragwanath. Marcos Patronelli was twenty seconds behind Baragwanath in third. Sergei Karyakin finished fourth, 17 minutes and 49 seconds back. Jeremias González was fifth, 28 minutes and 56 seconds back.
Eight seconds separate the Patronelli brothers entering the penultimate stage. Marcos leads Alejandro. Baragwanath is an hour and 41 minutes back in third. Karaykin trails by an hour and 51 minutes and González is two hours and two minutes back in fifth.
Eduard Nikolaev won his third stage in the truck class by seven minutes and two seconds over Hans Stacey. Ton Van Genugten was 34 seconds behind Stacey in third. Airat Mardeev finished fourth, seven minutes and 51 seconds behind his fellow Russian. In fifth was Dmitri Sotnikov, nine minutes and 38 seconds back. Overall leader Gerard de Rooy finished 13 minutes and 49 seconds back in sixth.
De Rooy leads overall by an hour and nine minutes over Mardeev. Federico Villagra finished ninth on the stage and is third in the truck class, an hour and 45 minutes back, Van Genugten trails by two hours and 10 minutes in fourth. Stacey is just over two and a half hours back in fifth.
The penultimate stage heads from San Juan to Villa Carlos Paz.
Nasser Al-Attiyah won his second stage of this year's race. Both have come after the rest day. The Qatari beat Sébastien Loeb by five minutes and 52 seconds with Mikko Hirvonen finishing third, seven minutes and a second back. Stéphane Peterhansel was fourth on the stage, eight minutes and five seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Fifth on the stage was Yazeed Al-Rajhi, 11 minutes and 57 second behind Al-Attiyah. Nani Roma finished 12 minutes and 14 seconds back in sixth with Giniel de Villiers 44 seconds behind Roma. Cyril Despres finished eighth, 14 minutes and 51 seconds back. Toyota drivers Leeroy Poulter and Vladimir Vasilyev rounded out the top ten, both finished over 20 minutes back. Robby Gordon was 11th, over 22 minutes back.
Peterhansel still leads overall but the gap to Al-Attiyah has dropped to 51 minutes. An hour and 17 minutes back is de Villiers. Hirvonen is just over five minutes behind the South African. Poulter trails Hirvonen by 24 minutes. Roma and Despres are the final two drivers within two hours of Peterhansel, an hour and 54 minutes and an hour and 56 minutes respectively. Vasilyev is two hours and 11 minutes back. Loeb trails by two hours and 25 minutes. Harry Hunt is tenth, two hours and 48 minutes back.
Gordon is over ten hours back in 28th.
Carlos Sainz has retired after a mechanical failure on stage ten. American Sheldon Creed was disqualified from the race after stage nine for skipping waypoints.
Antoine Meo picked up his second stage victory in the bike class. The Frenchman defeated class leader Toby Price by 18 seconds. Pablo Quintanilla finished third, two minutes and 48 seconds. Hélder Rodrigues was fourth, six minutes and two seconds behind Meo. Adrien Van Beveren finished sixth, 12 minutes and nine seconds back. Kevin Benavides finished four seconds back of Van Beveren. Štefan Svitko finished 26 seconds behind Benavides. American Ian Blythe was the surprise of the stage, finishing eighth, 21 minutes and 28 seconds back. Jordi Viladoms finished ninth, 25 minutes and 29 seconds back and Gerard Farres rounded out the top ten, 27 minutes and seven seconds back. Ricky Brabec finished less than a minute outside the top ten in 11th on stage eleven.
Price leads Svitko by over 35 minutes. Meo is now third, 43 minutes back and Quintanilla trails Meo by less than two minutes. Benavides is 57 minutes back in fifth. Rodrigues is an hour and two minutes back. An hour and 33 minutes back is Van Beveren with Brabec just over six minutes behind the Frenchman. Farres is an hour and 41 minutes back. Michael Metge is 10th, over three hours back.
Alejandro Patronelli won his first stage of this year's Dakar by a minute and six seconds over stage ten winner Brian Baragwanath. Marcos Patronelli was twenty seconds behind Baragwanath in third. Sergei Karyakin finished fourth, 17 minutes and 49 seconds back. Jeremias González was fifth, 28 minutes and 56 seconds back.
Eight seconds separate the Patronelli brothers entering the penultimate stage. Marcos leads Alejandro. Baragwanath is an hour and 41 minutes back in third. Karaykin trails by an hour and 51 minutes and González is two hours and two minutes back in fifth.
Eduard Nikolaev won his third stage in the truck class by seven minutes and two seconds over Hans Stacey. Ton Van Genugten was 34 seconds behind Stacey in third. Airat Mardeev finished fourth, seven minutes and 51 seconds behind his fellow Russian. In fifth was Dmitri Sotnikov, nine minutes and 38 seconds back. Overall leader Gerard de Rooy finished 13 minutes and 49 seconds back in sixth.
De Rooy leads overall by an hour and nine minutes over Mardeev. Federico Villagra finished ninth on the stage and is third in the truck class, an hour and 45 minutes back, Van Genugten trails by two hours and 10 minutes in fourth. Stacey is just over two and a half hours back in fifth.
The penultimate stage heads from San Juan to Villa Carlos Paz.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Peterhansel Back On Top After Sainz Suffers Gearbox Issue
Stage ten of the 2016 Dakar Rally saw two class leads go unchanged but there was another changer a top the car class.
Stéphane Peterhansel won the stage, his third of this year's edition. Cyril Despres made it a French and Peugeot 1-2, finishing five minutes and 40 seconds behind Peterhansel. Vladimir Vasilyev was 12 minutes and 56 seconds back in third. Nani Roma finished fourth, 14 minutes and 33 seconds back. Sébastien Loeb scored his first top five stage finish since his accident on stage eight. Loeb was 17 minutes and 40 seconds behind his fellow countryman. Giniel de Villiers finished 26 minutes and 16 seconds back in sixth with Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal scoring his first top ten stage finish of this year's race, a minute and a half behind the South African. Harry Hunt of Great Britain also picked up his first top ten stage finish, 34 minutes and 25 seconds back. Emiliano Spataro finished five seconds behind Hunt. Leeroy Poulter rounded out the top ten, 37 minutes and 36 seconds back.
Carlos Sainz suffered a gearbox issue, stranding him out on the course for a significant amount of time before assistance could arrive. Sainz wasn't the only contending driver to stop on course today. Nasser Al-Attiyah suffered a flat tire and finished 52 minutes behind Peterhansel.
Peterhansel leads by exactly one hour over Al-Attiyah with three stages remaining. De Villiers is 12 minutes behind Al-Attiyah with Mikko Hirvonen just over 11 minutes behind the South African. He finished 56 minutes behind Peterhansel on stage ten. Ten minutes behind the Finn is Poulter. Despres is over an hour and 50 minutes back but Roma trails Despres by 18 seconds for sixth.
Štefan Svitko won his first stage of this year's Dakar. The Slovakian beat Kevin Benavides by two minutes and 54 seconds and Toby Price was five minutes and 47 seconds back in third. Paulo Gonçalves finished fourth, six minutes and a second back. Antoine Meo made it three KTMs in the top five. He finished seven minutes and 43 seconds back of Svitko. Pablo Quintanilla finished nine minutes and 55 seconds behind Svitko in sixth. Hélder Rodrigues was 12 minutes and a second back and American Ricky Brabec finished 13 minutes and 47 seconds back in eighth. Adrien Van Beveren and Gerard Farres rounded out the top ten, 18 minutes and 26 minutes back respectively.
Price retains his overall lead. The Australian leads Svitko by over 23 minutes. Gonçalves trails by 34 minutes in third. Quintanilla is 42 minutes back with Meo less than two minutes behind the Chilean and Benavides a little over a minute back of Meo. Rodrigues is 56 minutes back in seventh. Brabec trails by an hour and 12 minutes in eighth. Farres is three minutes and a second behind the American. Van Beveren rounds out the top ten, an hour and 21 minutes behind Price.
Brian Baragwanath won his second stage in the quad. The South African beat Marcos Patronelli by 29 seconds with Alejandro Patronelli a minute and 17 seconds back of Baragwanath. Sergei Karyakin was fourth, 17 minutes and 42 seconds back. Stage nine winner Pablo Bonetti finished fifth, 21 minutes and 53 seconds behind Baragwanath.
Marcos leads his brother Alejandro by a minute and 32 seconds. Jeremias González is an hour and 34 minutes back after losing over 41 minutes to Marcos Patronelli on this stage. Karyakin trails González by less than a minute. Baragwanath is fifth, an hour and 41 minutes back and the final rider within two hours of the quad class lead.
Dutchman Pascal De Baar took a surprise stage victory. His previous best stage finish this year was ninth on stage two. The Renaults Truck driver beat Gerard de Rooy by two minutes and 36 seconds. Airat Mardeev finished 26 minutes and six seconds back in third. Martin Kolomy finished 19 seconds behind Mardeev. A minute back of Kolomy was Hans Stacey.
De Rooy leads overall by an hour and 15 minutes over Mardeev. Federico Villagra is an hour and 32 minutes back in third. Stacey trails by an hour and 48 minutes. Two hours and 16 minutes back in fifth is Ton Van Genugten.
Stage eleven will go from La Rioja to San Juan.
Stéphane Peterhansel won the stage, his third of this year's edition. Cyril Despres made it a French and Peugeot 1-2, finishing five minutes and 40 seconds behind Peterhansel. Vladimir Vasilyev was 12 minutes and 56 seconds back in third. Nani Roma finished fourth, 14 minutes and 33 seconds back. Sébastien Loeb scored his first top five stage finish since his accident on stage eight. Loeb was 17 minutes and 40 seconds behind his fellow countryman. Giniel de Villiers finished 26 minutes and 16 seconds back in sixth with Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal scoring his first top ten stage finish of this year's race, a minute and a half behind the South African. Harry Hunt of Great Britain also picked up his first top ten stage finish, 34 minutes and 25 seconds back. Emiliano Spataro finished five seconds behind Hunt. Leeroy Poulter rounded out the top ten, 37 minutes and 36 seconds back.
Carlos Sainz suffered a gearbox issue, stranding him out on the course for a significant amount of time before assistance could arrive. Sainz wasn't the only contending driver to stop on course today. Nasser Al-Attiyah suffered a flat tire and finished 52 minutes behind Peterhansel.
Peterhansel leads by exactly one hour over Al-Attiyah with three stages remaining. De Villiers is 12 minutes behind Al-Attiyah with Mikko Hirvonen just over 11 minutes behind the South African. He finished 56 minutes behind Peterhansel on stage ten. Ten minutes behind the Finn is Poulter. Despres is over an hour and 50 minutes back but Roma trails Despres by 18 seconds for sixth.
Štefan Svitko won his first stage of this year's Dakar. The Slovakian beat Kevin Benavides by two minutes and 54 seconds and Toby Price was five minutes and 47 seconds back in third. Paulo Gonçalves finished fourth, six minutes and a second back. Antoine Meo made it three KTMs in the top five. He finished seven minutes and 43 seconds back of Svitko. Pablo Quintanilla finished nine minutes and 55 seconds behind Svitko in sixth. Hélder Rodrigues was 12 minutes and a second back and American Ricky Brabec finished 13 minutes and 47 seconds back in eighth. Adrien Van Beveren and Gerard Farres rounded out the top ten, 18 minutes and 26 minutes back respectively.
Price retains his overall lead. The Australian leads Svitko by over 23 minutes. Gonçalves trails by 34 minutes in third. Quintanilla is 42 minutes back with Meo less than two minutes behind the Chilean and Benavides a little over a minute back of Meo. Rodrigues is 56 minutes back in seventh. Brabec trails by an hour and 12 minutes in eighth. Farres is three minutes and a second behind the American. Van Beveren rounds out the top ten, an hour and 21 minutes behind Price.
Brian Baragwanath won his second stage in the quad. The South African beat Marcos Patronelli by 29 seconds with Alejandro Patronelli a minute and 17 seconds back of Baragwanath. Sergei Karyakin was fourth, 17 minutes and 42 seconds back. Stage nine winner Pablo Bonetti finished fifth, 21 minutes and 53 seconds behind Baragwanath.
Marcos leads his brother Alejandro by a minute and 32 seconds. Jeremias González is an hour and 34 minutes back after losing over 41 minutes to Marcos Patronelli on this stage. Karyakin trails González by less than a minute. Baragwanath is fifth, an hour and 41 minutes back and the final rider within two hours of the quad class lead.
Dutchman Pascal De Baar took a surprise stage victory. His previous best stage finish this year was ninth on stage two. The Renaults Truck driver beat Gerard de Rooy by two minutes and 36 seconds. Airat Mardeev finished 26 minutes and six seconds back in third. Martin Kolomy finished 19 seconds behind Mardeev. A minute back of Kolomy was Hans Stacey.
De Rooy leads overall by an hour and 15 minutes over Mardeev. Federico Villagra is an hour and 32 minutes back in third. Stacey trails by an hour and 48 minutes. Two hours and 16 minutes back in fifth is Ton Van Genugten.
Stage eleven will go from La Rioja to San Juan.
2016 Dubai 24 Hour Preview
The first major endurance race of 2016 takes place this weekend. The 11th Dubai 24 Hour starts on Friday and will run through Saturday. One hundred cars are entered for the opening round of the 2016 24H Series season. Twenty-nine cars are entered in the premier, GT3-spec A6 class, 12 are consider Pro cars.
Black Falcon Racing returns with three Mercedes to defend it's victory. The #2 Mercedes will be split by two-time Dubai 24 Hour winners Jeroen Bleekemolen and Khaled al Qubaisi, last year's winner Hubert Haupt, Maro Engel and Indy Dontje. The #3 Mercedes will feature Haupt and two of his co-drivers from last year's winning team, Abdulaziz Al Faisal and Yelmer Buurman as well as 2013 winner Bernd Schneider and Michal Broniszewski. The #16 Mercedes will be lead by the fourth driver from last year's winner team, Oliver Webb. Adam Christodoulou, Patrick Assenheimer, Oliver Morley and American Frankie Montecalvo will be the other driver in the #16 Mercedes.
The other American in the A6 class is Connor De Phillippi. The former Road to Indy driver will be in the #28 Land-Motorsport GmbH Audi R8 with Marc Basseng, Christopher Mies and 2009 winner Carsten Tilke. Car Collection Motorsport has entered two Audis of their own. The #33 Audi will feature Markus Winkelhock, 2011 winner Claudia Hürtgen, Heinz Schmersal, Pierre Ehret and Peter Schmidt. The #34 Audi will be driven by Ingo Volger, Elmar Grimm, Max Edelhoff, Gustav Edelhoff and Dr. Johannes Kirchoff. C.Abt Racing has entered the #4 Audi for Daniel Abt, Isaac Tutmulu, Matias Henkola, Andreas Weishaupt and Christer Jöns. Frank Stippler leads the #14 Optimum Motorsport Audi driver line-up with Flick Haigh, Ryan Ratcliffe and Joe Osborne as his co-drivers. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has entered an Audi R8. The #19 Audi will be driven by Laurens Vanthoor, Michael Meadows, Stuart Leonard and Alain Ferté.
Three Porsche's are entered. Artthea Sport has entered a Porsche 911 GT America. The #45 will be shared by Jens Feucht, Klaus Werner and Martin Gøtsche and Nanna Gøtsche. Attempto Racing has entered two Porsche 997 GT3 Rs. The #66 will be driven by Sven Heyrowsky, Arkin Aka, Hans Wehrmann, Jürgen Häring and Edward Lewis Brauner and the #999 will be split by Dirk Vorländer, Dimitri Parhofer, Dirg Parhofer, Daniel Zampieri and Andreas Liehm.
Besides the three Black Falcon entries, there are eight other Mercedes in the A6 class this year. IDEC Sport Racing has entered the #17 for Frederic Yearly, Gabriel Abergel and Paul and Patrice Lafargue. Alex and Tim Müller will share the #27 SPS automotive-performance Mercedes with Lance-David Arnold and Valentin Pierburg. Gravity Racing International will have Vincent Radermercker, Christian Kelders, Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux drive the #6 Mercedes. The #10 Hofor-Racing Mercedes will be split by Christiaan Frankenhout, Kenneth Heyer, Roland Eggimann and Chantal and Michael Kroll.
V8 Racing has two cars entered but only one is a Mercedes. Duncan Huisman, Max and Luc Braams, Nick de Brujn and Pun JunJin will drive the #18 V8 Racing Mercedes. Preci-Spark's #22 Mercedes will be an all-English line-up with five Joneses: David, Godfrey, Morgan, Philip and Gareth. Ram Racing will have Paul White, Tom Onslow-Cole, 2012 winner Thomas Jäger, Stuart Hall and Roald Goethe in the #30 Mercedes. GDL Racing will have an all-Dutch line-up in the #67 Mercedes. Ivo and Rik Breakers, Renger van der Zande and Daniel de Jong will drive the GDL Racing entry.
A German manufacture has won all ten previous runnings of the Dubai 24 Hour.
Konrad Motorsport has entered a Lamborghini Huracán. The #26 features three winners from 2014: Christen Engelhart and Mark and Rolf Ineichen. Fabio Babini and Franz Konrad will also drive the #26. HB Racing has also entered a Huracán. The #4 Lamborghini will be driven by Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn and Robert and Alfred Renauer. The other Lamborghini in class is the #12 Huracán Trofeo, which belongs to Leipert Motorsport and will be driven by Mikhail Spiridonov, Frank Leone-Provost, Jean-Charles Perrin and Shahin Nouri.
Three Ferraris are entered for this year's race. The #11 Scuderia Praha Ferrari will be driven by Matteo Malucelli, Matteo Cressoni, Jiri Pisarik and Peter Kox. Dragon Racing has entered two Ferraris. Rob Barff, Jordan Grogor, Tiziano Carugati, Gino Forgone and Frederic Fatien will be in the #88. Matt Griffin, Alex Kapadia, John Hartshorne and Khaled Al Mudhaf will share the #888.
MRS GT-Racing has entered the #25 Nissan GT-R to be driven by Ahmed Bin Khanen, Bassam Kronfli, Ilya Melnikov and Tomonobu Fujii.
V8 Racing's second entry is the #333 Corvette that will be driven by Nicky Pastroelli, Alex van t'Hoff, Rick Abresch, Wolf Nathan and Miguel Ramos.
Boutsen Ginion Racing has entered the #8 Renault RS01 to be driven by Eric Vaissiere, Andre-Aain Corbel, Christophe de Fierlant and Daniel Waszczinski.
A few 991 class entries to watch for:
MRS GT-Racing has entered two Porsche 991 Cup cars. The #78 Porsche features Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Xavier Maasen and Joe Foster. Pitman, Espenlaub and Maassen won their class at the Gulf 12 Hours last month. Their other entry is the #46 Porsche, which will be driven by Guy Cosmo, Mauricio Hernandez, Yutaka Matsushima and Tomoyuki Takizawa.
Once Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter Alex Tagliani will drive the #72 HRT Performance Porsche alongside José Luis Talermann, Kim André Hauschild, Jean-Frederic Laberge and Harald Hennes.
Former DTM and V8 Supercar driver Alexandre Prémat will drive the #35 B2F compétition Porsche with Bruno and Benoit Fretin and Michel Mitieus.
Porsche factory driver Sven Müller will be one of five drivers in the #40 Lechner Racing Middle East Porsche. Dutchman Jaap van Lagen and Emirati drivers Saeed Al Mehairi, Bashar Mardini and Hasher Al Maktoum will be Müller's co-drivers.
Black Falcon also has two cars entered in the 911 class. The #60 Porsche will be driven by Klaus Bachler, Burked Kaiser, Sören Spreng, Stanislav Minsky and Mark Wallenwein. The #61 will be shared by Anders Fjordbach, Saud Al Faisal, Manuel Metzger, Gerwin Schuring and Saaed Al Mouri.
The #63 MSG Motorsport Porsche will be driven by Dan Cammish, Luca Rettenbacher, Martin Konrad and Facu Regalia.
Nine of the previous ten Dubai 24 Hours have featured at least one German driver winning overall. The lone year a German was not on the top step of the podium was in 2008 when Australians Klark Quinn, Jonathon Webb, New Zealander Craig Baird and Briton Tony Quinn won in a Porsche.
While a German manufacture has won all ten editions, Audi has never won the event. Mercedes has won three of the past four years. Porsche has four victories, most recently in 2014 and BMW won three, most recently in 2011. Tommy Milner, the only American to win the event, was on that 2011 winning team with Hürtgen, Augusto Farfus and Edward Sandström.
Never has a Dubai 24 Hour winning team featured drivers all from the same country.
The 11th Dubai 24 Hour will begin at 5:00 a.m. ET Friday.
Black Falcon Racing returns with three Mercedes to defend it's victory. The #2 Mercedes will be split by two-time Dubai 24 Hour winners Jeroen Bleekemolen and Khaled al Qubaisi, last year's winner Hubert Haupt, Maro Engel and Indy Dontje. The #3 Mercedes will feature Haupt and two of his co-drivers from last year's winning team, Abdulaziz Al Faisal and Yelmer Buurman as well as 2013 winner Bernd Schneider and Michal Broniszewski. The #16 Mercedes will be lead by the fourth driver from last year's winner team, Oliver Webb. Adam Christodoulou, Patrick Assenheimer, Oliver Morley and American Frankie Montecalvo will be the other driver in the #16 Mercedes.
The other American in the A6 class is Connor De Phillippi. The former Road to Indy driver will be in the #28 Land-Motorsport GmbH Audi R8 with Marc Basseng, Christopher Mies and 2009 winner Carsten Tilke. Car Collection Motorsport has entered two Audis of their own. The #33 Audi will feature Markus Winkelhock, 2011 winner Claudia Hürtgen, Heinz Schmersal, Pierre Ehret and Peter Schmidt. The #34 Audi will be driven by Ingo Volger, Elmar Grimm, Max Edelhoff, Gustav Edelhoff and Dr. Johannes Kirchoff. C.Abt Racing has entered the #4 Audi for Daniel Abt, Isaac Tutmulu, Matias Henkola, Andreas Weishaupt and Christer Jöns. Frank Stippler leads the #14 Optimum Motorsport Audi driver line-up with Flick Haigh, Ryan Ratcliffe and Joe Osborne as his co-drivers. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has entered an Audi R8. The #19 Audi will be driven by Laurens Vanthoor, Michael Meadows, Stuart Leonard and Alain Ferté.
Three Porsche's are entered. Artthea Sport has entered a Porsche 911 GT America. The #45 will be shared by Jens Feucht, Klaus Werner and Martin Gøtsche and Nanna Gøtsche. Attempto Racing has entered two Porsche 997 GT3 Rs. The #66 will be driven by Sven Heyrowsky, Arkin Aka, Hans Wehrmann, Jürgen Häring and Edward Lewis Brauner and the #999 will be split by Dirk Vorländer, Dimitri Parhofer, Dirg Parhofer, Daniel Zampieri and Andreas Liehm.
Besides the three Black Falcon entries, there are eight other Mercedes in the A6 class this year. IDEC Sport Racing has entered the #17 for Frederic Yearly, Gabriel Abergel and Paul and Patrice Lafargue. Alex and Tim Müller will share the #27 SPS automotive-performance Mercedes with Lance-David Arnold and Valentin Pierburg. Gravity Racing International will have Vincent Radermercker, Christian Kelders, Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux drive the #6 Mercedes. The #10 Hofor-Racing Mercedes will be split by Christiaan Frankenhout, Kenneth Heyer, Roland Eggimann and Chantal and Michael Kroll.
V8 Racing has two cars entered but only one is a Mercedes. Duncan Huisman, Max and Luc Braams, Nick de Brujn and Pun JunJin will drive the #18 V8 Racing Mercedes. Preci-Spark's #22 Mercedes will be an all-English line-up with five Joneses: David, Godfrey, Morgan, Philip and Gareth. Ram Racing will have Paul White, Tom Onslow-Cole, 2012 winner Thomas Jäger, Stuart Hall and Roald Goethe in the #30 Mercedes. GDL Racing will have an all-Dutch line-up in the #67 Mercedes. Ivo and Rik Breakers, Renger van der Zande and Daniel de Jong will drive the GDL Racing entry.
A German manufacture has won all ten previous runnings of the Dubai 24 Hour.
Konrad Motorsport has entered a Lamborghini Huracán. The #26 features three winners from 2014: Christen Engelhart and Mark and Rolf Ineichen. Fabio Babini and Franz Konrad will also drive the #26. HB Racing has also entered a Huracán. The #4 Lamborghini will be driven by Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn and Robert and Alfred Renauer. The other Lamborghini in class is the #12 Huracán Trofeo, which belongs to Leipert Motorsport and will be driven by Mikhail Spiridonov, Frank Leone-Provost, Jean-Charles Perrin and Shahin Nouri.
Three Ferraris are entered for this year's race. The #11 Scuderia Praha Ferrari will be driven by Matteo Malucelli, Matteo Cressoni, Jiri Pisarik and Peter Kox. Dragon Racing has entered two Ferraris. Rob Barff, Jordan Grogor, Tiziano Carugati, Gino Forgone and Frederic Fatien will be in the #88. Matt Griffin, Alex Kapadia, John Hartshorne and Khaled Al Mudhaf will share the #888.
MRS GT-Racing has entered the #25 Nissan GT-R to be driven by Ahmed Bin Khanen, Bassam Kronfli, Ilya Melnikov and Tomonobu Fujii.
V8 Racing's second entry is the #333 Corvette that will be driven by Nicky Pastroelli, Alex van t'Hoff, Rick Abresch, Wolf Nathan and Miguel Ramos.
Boutsen Ginion Racing has entered the #8 Renault RS01 to be driven by Eric Vaissiere, Andre-Aain Corbel, Christophe de Fierlant and Daniel Waszczinski.
A few 991 class entries to watch for:
MRS GT-Racing has entered two Porsche 991 Cup cars. The #78 Porsche features Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Xavier Maasen and Joe Foster. Pitman, Espenlaub and Maassen won their class at the Gulf 12 Hours last month. Their other entry is the #46 Porsche, which will be driven by Guy Cosmo, Mauricio Hernandez, Yutaka Matsushima and Tomoyuki Takizawa.
Once Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter Alex Tagliani will drive the #72 HRT Performance Porsche alongside José Luis Talermann, Kim André Hauschild, Jean-Frederic Laberge and Harald Hennes.
Former DTM and V8 Supercar driver Alexandre Prémat will drive the #35 B2F compétition Porsche with Bruno and Benoit Fretin and Michel Mitieus.
Porsche factory driver Sven Müller will be one of five drivers in the #40 Lechner Racing Middle East Porsche. Dutchman Jaap van Lagen and Emirati drivers Saeed Al Mehairi, Bashar Mardini and Hasher Al Maktoum will be Müller's co-drivers.
Black Falcon also has two cars entered in the 911 class. The #60 Porsche will be driven by Klaus Bachler, Burked Kaiser, Sören Spreng, Stanislav Minsky and Mark Wallenwein. The #61 will be shared by Anders Fjordbach, Saud Al Faisal, Manuel Metzger, Gerwin Schuring and Saaed Al Mouri.
The #63 MSG Motorsport Porsche will be driven by Dan Cammish, Luca Rettenbacher, Martin Konrad and Facu Regalia.
Nine of the previous ten Dubai 24 Hours have featured at least one German driver winning overall. The lone year a German was not on the top step of the podium was in 2008 when Australians Klark Quinn, Jonathon Webb, New Zealander Craig Baird and Briton Tony Quinn won in a Porsche.
While a German manufacture has won all ten editions, Audi has never won the event. Mercedes has won three of the past four years. Porsche has four victories, most recently in 2014 and BMW won three, most recently in 2011. Tommy Milner, the only American to win the event, was on that 2011 winning team with Hürtgen, Augusto Farfus and Edward Sandström.
Never has a Dubai 24 Hour winning team featured drivers all from the same country.
The 11th Dubai 24 Hour will begin at 5:00 a.m. ET Friday.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Sainz Jumps to Top of Car Class
Another day and another lead change a top of the car class occurred while two class leaders entering stage nine were victorious and there was a first time winner.
Carlos Sainz won his second stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally and the Spaniard leaped to the top of the car class. He defeated Erik Van Loon by ten seconds. Mikko Hirvonen finished third, 17 seconds behind the Spaniard. Giniel de Villiers finished 38 seconds back in fourth and Nasser Al-Attiyah rounded out the top five, two minutes and four seconds back. Cyril Despres was sixth, six minutes and 46 seconds back and Stéphane Peterhansel finished seventh, nine minutes and 12 seconds behind Sainz. Yazeed Al-Rajhi finished 26 seconds behind Peterhansel in eighth. Orlando Terranova was ninth, ten minutes and 53 seconds back. Mark Corbett scored his best stage finish this year as the South African ended up tenth, 15 minutes and 31 seconds behind Sainz.
Sainz takes the overall lead by seven minutes and three seconds over Peterhansel. Al-Attiyah is 14 minutes and 38 seconds back in third. Hirvonen is fourth, over 34 minutes back. De Villiers trails by 53 minutes in fifth. An hour and a minute back is Al-Rajhi with Leeroy Poulter two minutes behind the Saudi driver. Van Loon is an hour and 28 minutes back in eighth. Nani Roma and Despres round out the top ten, both over an hour and 42 minutes back.
Toby Price won his second consecutive stage and fifth overall. The Australian defeated Kevin Benavides by seven minutes and ten seconds with Štefan Svitko ten minutes and 33 seconds behind him in third. Pablo Quintanilla finished 15 seconds behind the Slovakian and Ricky Brabec finished fifth, 11 minutes and three seconds behind Price. Antoine Meo finished 50 seconds behind the American. Adrien Van Beveren finished seventh, 14 minutes and 23 seconds back. Gerard Farres was eighth, 15 seconds behind Van Beveren. Hélder Rodrigues finished 16 minutes back of Price in ninth and Armand Monleon finished tenth, 38 seconds behind Rodrigues.
Price extended his overall lead to 24 minutes and 47 seconds over Svitko. Quintanilla is 32 minutes behind in third. Benavides trails Quintanilla by less than half a minute. Meo rounds out the top five, just over 40 minutes back. Rodrigues trails by 46 minutes in sixth. Farres is 52 minutes back in seventh. Brabec, Van Beveren and Italian Alessandro Botturi rounded out the top ten; all trail by over an hour.
Pablo Copetti won his first stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally in the quad class. He defended Alejandro Patronelli by 35 seconds and Marcos Patronelli by a minute and 28 seconds. Brian Baragwanath finished three minutes and four seconds back in fourth. Nelson Sanabria rounded out the top five, three seconds behind Baragwanath.
Marcos Patronelli still leads overall. He is a minute and 13 seconds ahead of his brother Alejandro. Alexis Hernandez is third, over 40 minutes back. Jeremias González trails by 50 minutes in fourth. Sergei Karyakin is fifth, an hour and five minutes behind Patronelli.
Gerard de Rooy won his second consecutive stage. The Dutchman defeated his fellow countryman Ton Van Genugten by three minutes and 59 seconds. Sixteen minutes and four seconds back in third was Andrey Karginov. Federico Villagra was 41 seconds behind Karginov in fourth. Eduard Nikolaev finished fifth, 19 minutes and 14 seconds behind de Rooy.
De Rooy's lead has increased to 27 minutes and 12 seconds over Nikolaev. Villagra is third, over 41 minutes back. Pieter Versluis trails by 44 minutes in fourth. Van Genugten jumps up to fifth, just over 45 minutes behind de Rooy.
Stage ten heads from Bélen to La Rioja.
Carlos Sainz won his second stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally and the Spaniard leaped to the top of the car class. He defeated Erik Van Loon by ten seconds. Mikko Hirvonen finished third, 17 seconds behind the Spaniard. Giniel de Villiers finished 38 seconds back in fourth and Nasser Al-Attiyah rounded out the top five, two minutes and four seconds back. Cyril Despres was sixth, six minutes and 46 seconds back and Stéphane Peterhansel finished seventh, nine minutes and 12 seconds behind Sainz. Yazeed Al-Rajhi finished 26 seconds behind Peterhansel in eighth. Orlando Terranova was ninth, ten minutes and 53 seconds back. Mark Corbett scored his best stage finish this year as the South African ended up tenth, 15 minutes and 31 seconds behind Sainz.
Sainz takes the overall lead by seven minutes and three seconds over Peterhansel. Al-Attiyah is 14 minutes and 38 seconds back in third. Hirvonen is fourth, over 34 minutes back. De Villiers trails by 53 minutes in fifth. An hour and a minute back is Al-Rajhi with Leeroy Poulter two minutes behind the Saudi driver. Van Loon is an hour and 28 minutes back in eighth. Nani Roma and Despres round out the top ten, both over an hour and 42 minutes back.
Toby Price won his second consecutive stage and fifth overall. The Australian defeated Kevin Benavides by seven minutes and ten seconds with Štefan Svitko ten minutes and 33 seconds behind him in third. Pablo Quintanilla finished 15 seconds behind the Slovakian and Ricky Brabec finished fifth, 11 minutes and three seconds behind Price. Antoine Meo finished 50 seconds behind the American. Adrien Van Beveren finished seventh, 14 minutes and 23 seconds back. Gerard Farres was eighth, 15 seconds behind Van Beveren. Hélder Rodrigues finished 16 minutes back of Price in ninth and Armand Monleon finished tenth, 38 seconds behind Rodrigues.
Price extended his overall lead to 24 minutes and 47 seconds over Svitko. Quintanilla is 32 minutes behind in third. Benavides trails Quintanilla by less than half a minute. Meo rounds out the top five, just over 40 minutes back. Rodrigues trails by 46 minutes in sixth. Farres is 52 minutes back in seventh. Brabec, Van Beveren and Italian Alessandro Botturi rounded out the top ten; all trail by over an hour.
Pablo Copetti won his first stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally in the quad class. He defended Alejandro Patronelli by 35 seconds and Marcos Patronelli by a minute and 28 seconds. Brian Baragwanath finished three minutes and four seconds back in fourth. Nelson Sanabria rounded out the top five, three seconds behind Baragwanath.
Marcos Patronelli still leads overall. He is a minute and 13 seconds ahead of his brother Alejandro. Alexis Hernandez is third, over 40 minutes back. Jeremias González trails by 50 minutes in fourth. Sergei Karyakin is fifth, an hour and five minutes behind Patronelli.
Gerard de Rooy won his second consecutive stage. The Dutchman defeated his fellow countryman Ton Van Genugten by three minutes and 59 seconds. Sixteen minutes and four seconds back in third was Andrey Karginov. Federico Villagra was 41 seconds behind Karginov in fourth. Eduard Nikolaev finished fifth, 19 minutes and 14 seconds behind de Rooy.
De Rooy's lead has increased to 27 minutes and 12 seconds over Nikolaev. Villagra is third, over 41 minutes back. Pieter Versluis trails by 44 minutes in fourth. Van Genugten jumps up to fifth, just over 45 minutes behind de Rooy.
Stage ten heads from Bélen to La Rioja.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Second Week of Dakar Starts With New Class Leaders Across the Board
Stage eight saw lead changes at the top of every class and a few contenders suffered major set backs.
The big change came in the car class as Nasser Al-Attiyah won his first stage of this year's Dakar and ended Peugeot's six-stage winning streak. The Mini driver defeated Carlos Sainz by 21 seconds and Stéphane Peterhansel by 31 seconds. Cyril Despres scored his best stage finish with a fourth, four minutes and 40 seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Mikko Hirvonen made it consecutive fifth place finishes. The Finn was six minutes and 42 seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Nani Roma and Orlando Terranova were sixth and seventh. The Spaniard was ten minutes and 11 seconds back and the Argentine was 11 minutes and 37 seconds back. Toyota's Leeroy Poulter and Yazeed Al-Rajhi finished eighth and ninth. Poulter finished 12 minutes and six seconds back and Al-Rajhi was 14 minutes and 21 seconds back of Al-Attiyah. Erik Van Loon rounded out the top ten, 15 minutes and 16 seconds back.
Sébastien Loeb suffered a major accident when he rolled his Peugeot 18 miles from the end of the stage. The class leading driver entering stage eight and his co-driver Daniel Elena were ok but the car needed a significant amount of repairs and they finished an hour and eight minutes after Al-Attiyah.
Peterhansel assume the lead of the car class after Loeb's disastrous stage and he leads Sainz by two minutes and nine seconds. Al-Attiyah is 14 minutes and 43 seconds back in third and Hirvonen moves up to fourth, over 36 minutes back. Poulter trails by 49 minutes in fifth. Al-Rajhi and Giniel de Villiers are separated by half a minute but both drivers are over 54 minutes behind Peterhansel. Loeb is the first competitor over an hour behind the lead in eighth. Vladimir Vasilyev and Roma round out the top ten, trailing Peterhansel by 68 minutes and 88 minutes respectively.
Toby Price won his fourth stage of this year's Dakar and in doing so the Australian now leads the bike class overall. He defeated Paulo Gonçalves by five minutes and 17 seconds and Pablo Quintanilla by six minutes and 32 seconds. Slovakian Štefan Svitko finished fourth, eight minutes and two seconds behind Price. Kevin Benavides came home in fifth, four seconds behind Svitko. Hélder Rodrigues finished sixth, nine minutes and 19 seconds back. Gerrard Farres finished 10 minutes and 47 seconds back in seventh and Antoine Meo was three seconds back of Farres. Juan Pedrero finished 18 seconds back of Meo and Adrien Van Beveren finished tenth, 15 minutes and seven seconds back. American Ricky Brabec finished 11th, a minute and 37 seconds outside the top ten for the stage.
Price leads Gonçalves by two minutes and five seconds with Svitko 14 minutes and 14 seconds back. Quintanilla, Benavides and Meo are all over twenty minutes behind Price. Rodrigues is the first rider trailing Price by over a half hour. Farres is 37 minutes back and Pedrero trails by 39 minutes. Alain Duclos is tenth, 45 minutes back. Brabec is 11th, 51 minutes behind Price.
Ian Blythe is 29th, two hours and 28 minutes back. Alexander Smith is nearly five hours back in 45th. Scott Bright trails by six hours and 41 minutes in 59th. Carroll Gittere is over ten hours back in 84th.
Marcos Patronelli won stage eight and like Price he took his class lead. The Argentine rider won in the quad class by five minutes and 42 seconds over his brother Alejandro. Alexis Hernandez finished third, nine minutes and 17 seconds back. Lucas Bonetto was fourth, 39 seconds behind Hernandez. Sergei Karyakin finished 16 minutes and 41 seconds back in fifth.
Marcos leads overall by two minutes and six seconds over Alejandro. Hernandez trails by 32 minutes in third. Karyakin is 43 minutes back in fourth. Jeremias González rounds out the top five by 46 minutes.
Gerard de Rooy won stage eight and took the truck class lead. The Dutch driver beat Eduard Nikolaev by two minutes and 35 seconds. Andrey Karginov finished five minutes and 23 seconds behind de Rooy in third. Jaroslav Valtr scored his best finish of this year's Dakar, as the Czech driver was fourth, 13 minutes and 38 seconds behind de Rooy. Dmitry Sotnikov was nine seconds behind Valtr. Federico Villagra was sixth, 14 minutes and 35 seconds back and Hans Stacey finished seventh, 14 seconds behind Villagra.
De Rooy will take a seven-minute and 58-second lead into stage nine over Nikolaev. Pieter Versluis dropped from the class lead to third, 13 minutes and 29 seconds behind de Rooy after finishing tenth on stage eight, 19 minutes behind his fellow countryman. Stacey trails by over twenty minutes in fourth. Airat Mardeev is 22 minutes back in fifth.
Stage nine will start and finish in Bélen.
The big change came in the car class as Nasser Al-Attiyah won his first stage of this year's Dakar and ended Peugeot's six-stage winning streak. The Mini driver defeated Carlos Sainz by 21 seconds and Stéphane Peterhansel by 31 seconds. Cyril Despres scored his best stage finish with a fourth, four minutes and 40 seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Mikko Hirvonen made it consecutive fifth place finishes. The Finn was six minutes and 42 seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Nani Roma and Orlando Terranova were sixth and seventh. The Spaniard was ten minutes and 11 seconds back and the Argentine was 11 minutes and 37 seconds back. Toyota's Leeroy Poulter and Yazeed Al-Rajhi finished eighth and ninth. Poulter finished 12 minutes and six seconds back and Al-Rajhi was 14 minutes and 21 seconds back of Al-Attiyah. Erik Van Loon rounded out the top ten, 15 minutes and 16 seconds back.
Sébastien Loeb suffered a major accident when he rolled his Peugeot 18 miles from the end of the stage. The class leading driver entering stage eight and his co-driver Daniel Elena were ok but the car needed a significant amount of repairs and they finished an hour and eight minutes after Al-Attiyah.
Peterhansel assume the lead of the car class after Loeb's disastrous stage and he leads Sainz by two minutes and nine seconds. Al-Attiyah is 14 minutes and 43 seconds back in third and Hirvonen moves up to fourth, over 36 minutes back. Poulter trails by 49 minutes in fifth. Al-Rajhi and Giniel de Villiers are separated by half a minute but both drivers are over 54 minutes behind Peterhansel. Loeb is the first competitor over an hour behind the lead in eighth. Vladimir Vasilyev and Roma round out the top ten, trailing Peterhansel by 68 minutes and 88 minutes respectively.
Toby Price won his fourth stage of this year's Dakar and in doing so the Australian now leads the bike class overall. He defeated Paulo Gonçalves by five minutes and 17 seconds and Pablo Quintanilla by six minutes and 32 seconds. Slovakian Štefan Svitko finished fourth, eight minutes and two seconds behind Price. Kevin Benavides came home in fifth, four seconds behind Svitko. Hélder Rodrigues finished sixth, nine minutes and 19 seconds back. Gerrard Farres finished 10 minutes and 47 seconds back in seventh and Antoine Meo was three seconds back of Farres. Juan Pedrero finished 18 seconds back of Meo and Adrien Van Beveren finished tenth, 15 minutes and seven seconds back. American Ricky Brabec finished 11th, a minute and 37 seconds outside the top ten for the stage.
Price leads Gonçalves by two minutes and five seconds with Svitko 14 minutes and 14 seconds back. Quintanilla, Benavides and Meo are all over twenty minutes behind Price. Rodrigues is the first rider trailing Price by over a half hour. Farres is 37 minutes back and Pedrero trails by 39 minutes. Alain Duclos is tenth, 45 minutes back. Brabec is 11th, 51 minutes behind Price.
Ian Blythe is 29th, two hours and 28 minutes back. Alexander Smith is nearly five hours back in 45th. Scott Bright trails by six hours and 41 minutes in 59th. Carroll Gittere is over ten hours back in 84th.
Marcos Patronelli won stage eight and like Price he took his class lead. The Argentine rider won in the quad class by five minutes and 42 seconds over his brother Alejandro. Alexis Hernandez finished third, nine minutes and 17 seconds back. Lucas Bonetto was fourth, 39 seconds behind Hernandez. Sergei Karyakin finished 16 minutes and 41 seconds back in fifth.
Marcos leads overall by two minutes and six seconds over Alejandro. Hernandez trails by 32 minutes in third. Karyakin is 43 minutes back in fourth. Jeremias González rounds out the top five by 46 minutes.
Gerard de Rooy won stage eight and took the truck class lead. The Dutch driver beat Eduard Nikolaev by two minutes and 35 seconds. Andrey Karginov finished five minutes and 23 seconds behind de Rooy in third. Jaroslav Valtr scored his best finish of this year's Dakar, as the Czech driver was fourth, 13 minutes and 38 seconds behind de Rooy. Dmitry Sotnikov was nine seconds behind Valtr. Federico Villagra was sixth, 14 minutes and 35 seconds back and Hans Stacey finished seventh, 14 seconds behind Villagra.
De Rooy will take a seven-minute and 58-second lead into stage nine over Nikolaev. Pieter Versluis dropped from the class lead to third, 13 minutes and 29 seconds behind de Rooy after finishing tenth on stage eight, 19 minutes behind his fellow countryman. Stacey trails by over twenty minutes in fourth. Airat Mardeev is 22 minutes back in fifth.
Stage nine will start and finish in Bélen.
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