Stéphane Peterhansel (BMW) took advantage of a navigation mistake by both of his rivals, Sainz and Al-Attiyah (both VW) to open up a gap and win the fifth stage of the Dakar Rally.Â
After tackling the first dunes on the Personal Dakar Argentina Chile, Francisco Lopez (Aprilia) thought he had won his fourth stage win on the Dakar, But the time taken by Paulo Goncalves, fourth to finish the special, was modified to take account of the assistance he gave to Olivier Pain, who crashed at the 231 km point. The Portuguese rider picks up his first victory on the Dakar as a result. In the car race, a BMW also won the day, with a 56th special stage victory for Stéphane Peterhansel, who is starting to threaten the position of Carlos Sainz, still overall leader … More
www.stokednews.com
Carlos Sainz celebrated his 20th career Dakar Rally stage victory on Wednesday and extended his overall lead as the event moved into Chile.
Sainz has now moved within two wins of Stephane Peterhansel’s record 22, though it was the Frenchman who looked more likely to add to his tally early on in the day’s running, which began at an altitude of 11,000ft in the Atacama Desert  … More
www.stokednews.com
Defending champions Carlos Sainz in the cars category and Cyril Despres on a bike return to defend their titles when the Dakar Rally starts on Saturday from the Argentine capital.
Officials say 430 vehicles across four categories—cars, bikes, quads and trucks—are expected to begin the race which will cover 9,500 kilometers across northern Argentina and along the spine of Chile. The race ends on Jan. 16 back in Buenos Aires. It the third straight year the race has been held in the two South American countries  … More
www.stokednews.com