Stage 7 – Al-Rajhi-Von Zitzewitz lead the marathon stage, Al-Attiyah-Baumel limit the damage

Parmi la troupe d’athlètes à dormir dans un immense dortoir au coeur de l’université de Sakaka, étape marathon oblige, il en est un qui savourera ces conditions spartiates. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) est revenu aux affaires ce dimanche 10 janvier en claquant un temps scratch in extremis, son deuxième sur le Dakar et le premier… depuis six ans !

Dakar 2021 | 7 Days and 4,058 km of adventure! ⠀
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Watch: compilation of @yazeed_alrajhi & @rallyedakar journey in the first 6 stages + the prologue of Dakar 2021⠀

Bring your popcorn and Enjoy!# Dakar2021 pic.twitter.com/aoIB5QM1b2

— Yazeed Racing (@YazeedRacing) January 9, 2021

Blocked by a broken gearbox and various errors in the first week, the native of Riyadh, sailed by the German Dirk Von Zitzewitz, continues for the honor (5h02 behind overall). The local child has damned the pawn to Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Mini). The French had done everything to extend their lead in the general classification over Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) beyond 10 minutes.

Their Mini JCW Buggy even seemed well on its way to winning, but in the final straight, their lead melted away like snow on sand for a reason still unknown. As a result, they still have to open their score on this Dakar 2021 by barely 48”! However, “Monsieur Dakar” remains firmly in the lead, with a margin of 7'53'' five days before the final arrival in Jeddah.

While halfway, they conceded virtually an additional 6'29'' on Peterhansel-Boulanger, the three-time winner of the rally-raid managed to limit the damage and only lost 2'00'' despite a puncture.

A fan of drifting in his native Poland, Jakub Przygonski danced on the sand this Sunday. Having moved last year to Overdrive and the Toyota Hilux, the former world record holder for the fastest drift completes the top 5 with Timo Gottschalk and consolidates his 4th place overall.

On their Peugeot 3008 DKR ex-factory and now managed by PH Sport, Cyril Despres and the adventurer Mike Horn are making great progress and are shaping up to be the outsiders of this second week. They are sailing in sixth place with two intermediate points to go.

As for the newcomers Bahrain Raid Xtreme, the torch is carried by Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. Two days after their endless eight-hour wait in the desert, the nine-time world champions WRC finish at the bottom of the top 10. Their teammates Nani Roma and Alexandre Winocq follow just behind, however a good twenty minutes behind at the last Way-point.

Stage classification:

Provisional general ranking: