With Mévius and Brabec victorious, the leaders’ lead is reduced

The drivers were faced with a big chunk this Saturday, or rather two since the 605 km of course between Haïl and Al Duwadimi were split in two. The first part was quite stony and after a 172 km transfer, the drivers were confronted with more sand, in a setting alternating tracks and small dunes.

Guy Botterill dominated a large part of the special but the Toyota driver ultimately lost time in the last part and had to settle for fourth place. Victory went to Guillaume de Mévius. The Belgian gave the new Mini its first special victory, ahead of his teammate Joao Ferreira.

However, the day was not perfect for Mini since Guerlain Chicherit, tenth before this stage, retired after a series of rolls. The Frenchman appears unhurt but due to neck pain, he was evacuated by helicopter.

Henk Lategan lost 6’36 on the winner of the day but remains leader of the event. Yazeed Al Rajhi nevertheless takes back three minutes and gets closer at 7’16. Mattias Ekström lost a little time on Lategan but remains third ahead of Nasser-Al-Attiyah, who regained five minutes and remains in the race for victory.

Lucas Moraes, fifth this morning, lost 1h30 due to mechanical problems. Mitchell Guthrie regains his position ahead of Mathieu Serradori, who remains the last driver less than an hour behind the winner.

Please note that due to various incidents that occurred this Saturday, the helicopters providing security will remain immobilized on the course this evening. This will cause a delay in their arrival for the seventh stage and has prompted organizers to delay the start of the special and shorten it. This will also be the case for the motorcycles, which will be on a different route on Sunday.

Provisional general classification Cars

Brabec wins, several abandonments

These helicopter interventions were mainly the result of the Motorcycle category, which saw the withdrawal of several leading riders. The stage started without Kevin Benavides, diminished after returning from injury. The double winner of the Dakar preferred to throw in the towel for fear of getting injured again.

Ross Branch also had to withdraw this Saturday. Leader after the first waypoints, the one who was fourth in the general classification fell around km 48. He was evacuated by helicopter, to which he was able to walk. Bradley Cox, 12th overall and first privateer, fell at the very start of the special. Examined by the medical team at km 48, he too gave up.

This special saw different leaders during the first waypoints before Mason Klein took the lead and pushed Ignacio Cornejo back more than two minutes… but he lost time in his turn and Kove will have to wait to become the 15th brand to win a stage of the Dakar.

Victory finally went to Ricky Brabec for a few seconds. The American was ahead of Adrien van Beveren by 6’18 but the Frenchman received almost six minutes of bonuses, obtained to compensate for his opening position this Saturday, which allowed him to recover up to one second per kilometer.

Daniel Sanders, leader since the start of the event, dropped 5’43 on the winner of the day, and he especially lost time compared to his first pursuers in the general classification. The KTM rider thus sees Tosha Schareina regain more than three minutes and come back to 11’46, while Adrien Van Beveren grabs more than five minutes and gets closer to 19’11.

With Branch’s retirement, there are now four Honda representatives chasing Sanders, with Brabec, the only former winner still in the running, passing Howes. The two men are less than 30 minutes behind the leader.

Note that Antonio Maio, Yamaha’s sole representative, lost almost three hours from km 2 due to a technical problem.

Provisional general classification Motorcycles