Today is the first part of stage 2, called “48 hours flat”. A new feature introduced on the 2024 Dakar and renewed this year. Halfway through the stage, the two big losers of the day are Carlos Sainz (Ford) and Sébastien Loeb (Dacia)!
Dakar 2025: Loeb and Sainz get trapped at the start of the 48h Chrono!
This 48h Chrono as the second stage already promised to be crucial in this Dakar 2025. As a reminder, the principle of this special is simple: a stage which takes place over two days. At a specific time (3 p.m. French time), everyone stops and must join one of the six bivouacs spread out along the route. After a night of camping, the crews leave for the end of the stage. It is therefore a step without assistance! The slightest mechanical glitch can therefore be very expensive.
This morning, Carlos Sainz (Ford) was the first to be trapped! The 2024 winner rolled off a dune. Thanks to his teammate Mitch Guthrie, he was able to get back on his four wheels and set off again. “El Matador” loses more than half an hour in the process. Then, it was Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) who lost a lot of time. The Frenchman stopped twice. During his second stop, he had to wait for Cristina Guttierez before being able to leave. At PK414 he is 29 minutes behind the provisional leader. Loeb suffered an electronic problem on his Sandrider, a problem linked to the car's cooling system according to “Radio Bivouac”.
Another big loser of the day, Lucas Moraes (Toyota). The Brazilian crashed into a dune and lost about fifteen minutes in the process. For his part, Guillaume De Mevius crashes in the sand and loses about ten minutes in the operation.
Yesterday's winners garden and waste a lot of time too. Quintero and Chicherit are relegated to more than 40 minutes from the race lead. The young South African, Saood Variawa, gives up more than an hour! Martin Prokop (Ford), fourth, did a little better, losing “only” 29 minutes.
In front, the provisional leader of the stage is Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota). At PK452, he is in the lead with one minute ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia). Mattias Ekström (Ford) made a superb start to the special and is currently ranked third at 8mins26. Former bikers Toby Price and Sam Sunderland (Toyota) are also on a very good pace. They are currently fourth at 10mins44. They are ahead of Guy Botterill (Toyota), fifth at 12 minutes.
Article published on 01/05/2024 at 12:45 p.m.
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