Dakar - Sainz pockets a truncated 10th stage and widens the gap overall

Winner of a truncated stage due to the weather and security conditions, Carlos Sainz performed excellently overall, regaining a clear margin over Nasser Al-Attiyah. Fernando Alonso rolled over.

Published on 15/01/2020 à 10:38

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Dakar – Sainz pockets a truncated 10th stage and widens the gap overall

From this 10th step of Dakar 2020 in Saudi Arabia between Haradh and Shubaytah, the image of Fernando Alonso (Toyota) partant en tonneaux en tout début de spéciale.

ÚLTIMA HORA. Fernando Alonso never saw more dirt in the special stage of the Maratón de hoy #DakarRTVE15EN Image by Álvaro García. 2 ruedas pinchadas. The pilots are fine. Please note that there are important damages. pic.twitter.com/ZobnZwjcF7

— Paco Grande (@PacoGrandeTVE) January 15, 2020

More fear than harm for the double Spanish world champion who left almost instantly behind the wheel of a Hilux with a badly damaged windshield, before stopping for several minutes a few kilometers further on. Alonso and Marc Coma finally crossed the first kilometer point of the ES more than an hour behind the leaders.

At the head of the race, everyone was waiting for a response from Carlos Sainz (mini) on the return of Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) after two complicated stages for the double world rally champion.

The latter did not fail to strike hard this Wednesday, distancing his rivals from the first kilometers against the clock, finishing 2′ ahead of Al-Attiyah at the 174th kilometer. But it is in the following portion that Sainz will show his verve, visibly taking the best track and greatly increasing the gap with the Qatari, clocked at 17′ at the 223rd kilometer, after having searched for the WP for a long time.

Unfortunately for the title holder, the premature end of the special, decided at the 345th km by the race management due to violent winds and safety measures already largely used at the start of the course, will not allow him to fill this gap.

Starting 15″ behind Sainz this morning, Al-Attiyah lost 17'36" on the Mini JCW buggy, winner of the stage with a 3'05" margin over Jakub Przygonski (Mini) and 4'26" over Giniel de Villiers (Toyota). Note the beautiful 4th place of Pierre Lachaume (Peugeot ). Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini) lost 11'48" on Sainz.

Overall, "El Matador" is now ahead of Al-Attiyah by 18'10", Peterhansel having returned to 16" behind the Qatari.

Ranking Step 10: