Lategan and Al Rajhi in a handkerchief before the final explanation!

Short but intense, that was the promise of this tenth stage of the Dakar, opening two days raced in the dreaded Quart vide desert. At the end of a very long liaison of more than 500 km, the competitors plunged into a special made entirely of dunes over 120 km, without a trace since the Motorcycle category took another route.

Winner on Tuesday, Nasser Al-Attiyah was trapped even before the tenth kilometer by making a small navigation error. The Qatari was caught by Yazeed Al Rajhi, who opened the road in turn, but the rally leader lost big after around 80 km when he was forced to stop for a good five minutes after getting stuck in the sand.

The fight for stage victory was played out between outsiders who started from afar. Playing outside the rankings since last week, Nani Roma reminded everyone what the Ford Raptor was capable of by winning in the scratch with 18 seconds ahead of Lucas Moraes and 2'21 over Brian Baragwanath.

Al-Attiyah more disappointed than ever

In the general classification, on the eve of an 11th stage which promises to be decisive, Henk Lategan regains his position and leads the Dakar once again, with only 2'27 ahead of Yazeed Al Rajhi. The leading quartet sees Mattias Ekström and Nasser Al-Attiyah plateau, still relegated to 26'46 and 30'21 now for the Dacia driver, whose chances are dwindling.

“We could have had a good stage, but we will see what position we are in and what we can do tomorrow”lamented Nasser Al-Attiyah on the official Dakar website. “Every day is very important, and we had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. It's the most disappointing day of my life.”

On Thursday, the big explanation over 308 km should be done regularly since none of these leaders will open the road, but Henk Lategan will still start well before his three pursuers in the general. “I have a good position for tomorrow, that’s what I was hoping for”does not fail to highlight Yazeed Al Rajhi.

Provisional general classification Cars

Sanders fends off threat, Docherty wins

Among the bikers, this dune stage did not create any upheaval over the 116 km timed course of a course once again separated from the Cars. Winner of the last two specials, Luciano Benavídes once again set out on a scouting trip and did not repeat his feat from the day before. The Argentinian also suffered from the heat while riding his motorcycle, feeling ill.

The imperturbable leader Daniel Sanders has taken a perhaps decisive step towards the final victory: without achieving the scratch, he pushed back his closest pursuers in the general classification and will not open the road on Thursday. Luciano Benavídes, Tosha Schareina and Adrien van Beveren all made time for the Australian, who is still more than a quarter of an hour ahead of his runner-up as he has led the rally continuously since the Prologue.

“The first 40-50 km were challenging, the dunes were very different from those we have had so far, but in the end I sailed well and I am ready for tomorrow”confided the KTM rider on the official Dakar website. “Yesterday I didn't execute the plan as I would have liked, but it's rallying, it's impossible to do the perfect race, it's not a motocross race, it's much longer . We aim for perfection, but it’s one day at a time.”

The stage victory was decided between those who started even further. And in this little game, it was the residents of Rally2 who did well. Leading in all scores, Michael Docherty took the scratch with 1'20 ahead of Rui Gonçalves, and 2'21 on Tobias Ebster. This is only the second time in the history of the Dakar that a Rally2 driver has won a stage, the South African succeeding Danilo Petrucci (2022).

Provisional general classification Motorcycles