Stage 9 – Peterhansel-Boulanger hits hard in Neom

Has the 2021 Dakar definitively changed this Tuesday, January 12 around Neom (Saudi Arabia)? Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Mini) indeed hit hard in this ninth stage on the banks of the Red Sea and finally set a scratch time this year.

Leaders de l’épreuve depuis le deuxième jour, l’équipage français avait senti le souffle menaçant du Toyota Hilux de Nasser Al-Attiyah et Mathieu Baumel lundi. Or, les trois minutes perdues sur une légère faute de navigation et une position désavantageuse d’ouverture de piste ont été grandement compensées, et de quelle manière !

Arrived at the Neom bivouac with a 12' ahead of their opponents, Peterhansel-Boulanger widens the gap to 17'50''. This margin, unprecedented in nine days, finds part of its explanation in two new punctures suffered by Al-Attiyah-Baumel.

The French sailor had previously admitted that the new BF Goodrich tires were not as effective as expected compared to the larger buggy tires. With only three stages remaining, “Monsieur Dakar” could well add a 14th success to his list of achievements.

The other great French driver of the day could have been Mathieu Serradori (Century). The Varois, associated with the Belgian Fabian Lurquin, was chasing away the bad memories of the first week linked to a wandering rear wheel on several occasions, when a breakdown forced him to stop at km 385!

Starting at the heart of the peloton (26th), the private pilot, at the head of his own structure, was in the lead since km 354 (out of a total of 465).

The podium for this stage is therefore completed by Giniel De Villiers and Alex Haro (Toyota). As for Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (Mini), the Spaniards suffered a puncture then a loss of brakes which ruined his chances of stage success.

Stage classification:

General classification :