Step 5 – De Villiers-Haro reassures themselves, Loeb-Elena gardens

Did the previous step seem too conventional to you? The fifth day should fill you up. The 456 km stage between Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and Al Qaisumah caused damage to the entire Auto caravan.

It all started from the first minutes of effort on Thursday January 7, even before the 20% of dunes planned. At the 17th km, Mathieu Serradori and Fabian Lurquin (Century) stopped for four hours following a torn off wheel. The Franco-Belgian couple loses all their ambitions of a podium or top 5, a realistic objective after three stages (he was 3rd).

Further, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (Mini) got lost for the second time in two days. The title holders definitely made unexpected errors in this edition where the emphasis was placed on navigation by returning the road book a few moments before departure each morning.

Going around in circles @CSainz_oficia# Dakar2021 pic.twitter.com/9YNw9eZ9Lc

- DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 7, 2021

Another champion couple, and same problem on Sébastien’s side Loeb and Daniel Elena (BRX). The Dakar returnees got lost several times, going back and forth with their twin-turbo Hunter V6 in the first half of the stage. They even exchanged a few desperate words with Sainz-Cruz at km 25; between galley slaves, we understand each other, or not. Because after 74 km, the crew had already lost 55' on the leaders! On arrival, this makes 50'18" conceded. 

En grande forme ces deux derniers jours et quatrième du général au réveil, Henk Lategan et Brett Cummings (Toyota) ont fracassé leurs espoirs de temps scratch dans un impressionnant salto. Le pilote sud-africain est sorti par le pare-brise mais souffre d’une clavicule cassée et a été emmené à l’hôpital de Riyad pour des examens ; le copilote est indemne.

4th in the GC this morning, @henk_lategan suffered a spectacular accident at the beginning of the special. He has fractured his collarbone and has been airlifted to Riyadh. His co-pilot @BrettCummings83 was unharmed. # Dakar2021 pic.twitter.com/YEL9aV7xJU

- DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 7, 2021

We had forgotten their compatriot Giniel de Villiers (Toyota), totally transparent this year. Rejected almost 2 hours later and in 22nd place last night, the winner of the first excursion to South America nevertheless worked hard.

Perfectly navigated by the Spaniard Alex Haro, the official Toyota Gazoo Racing driver took the lead at all the Way-points, quite a performance! This is the 16th stage victory for the driver. In this day of second knives, another South African crew reveals itself. Brian Baragwanath and Taye Perry, joint winners of the Prologue, finished second by a whisker, 58'' exactly!

Peterhansel the thin cheek

And for the final victory, what happens? Oddly enough, almost nothing. Despite the heavy responsibility of opening the road, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) did not garden. However, their remarkable series of three consecutive scratches ends this Thursday. Worse still, he lost 2'13'' on Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Mini)!

The French have yet to open their score in 2021 but here they are more firmly in the lead of the event, with a 6'11'' margin over the Qatari-French couple. It's almost back to square one for Toyota Gazoo Racing, which already had 6'37'' spent after Stage 2 on Monday.

Stage classification:

Provisional general ranking: