Dakar 2020 – Sainz drives home the point and gets ahead

The fifth day of this Dakar 2020 in Saudi Arabia offered the first (small) plateaus of dunes. Between Al-Ula and Hail, the 353 km route tended to favor Mini JCW buggies.

Indeed, the two-wheel drive car of the X-Raid team was at ease. Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz signed their second stage victory this week with style, constantly riding in the leading group. 

The leaders of the general classification are certainly increasing their lead, but Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) sont en embuscade. The title holders concede almost three minutes, but keep in touch with the general (+5'59''). 

The fastest man yesterday, Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini), fell back slightly at the end of the stage. The Frenchman, accompanied by Paulo Fiuza, spent six minutes and moved beyond a quarter of an hour behind (+17'53'') in the standings. 

Starting off like a rocket this morning, local Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) slowed down as the stage progressed. Seen as one of the serious outsiders at the start, the Saudi is 31 minutes behind after five stages. 

The day went rather averagely for Matthieu Serradori (Century); the Frenchman, associated with Fabian Lurquin, was 15' behind the leaders at the last mandatory crossing point. As for Fernando Alonso and Marc Coma (Toyota), this stage is free of damage (8th to 11' a few km from the end).

the indestructible Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) continues to disappoint. The winner of the second stage takes another 12 minutes and is left behind overall (46'). 

Dakar 2020 Ranking Stage 5:

General classification :