Nasser Al-Attiyah wins in Pisco and heads towards a 3rd victory in the Dakar

Already holding a comfortable lead (more than 45′) over Nani Roma (Mini) at the start this morning, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) almost assured his third victory on the Dakar this Wednesday after winning the stage around Pisco. A day which notably saw the abandonment of Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini).

First victim of the day, 4th in the ranking before the start of this stage made a mistake today. In the accident, David Castera was hit in the back, and the tandem of car no. 304 retired before the last day.

The other loser from this Wednesday remains Sébastien Loeb (Peugeot ). The winner of the day before seemed set to pocket a fifth stage victory this Wednesday, but the Frenchman, solid leader of the stage after having had a lead of more than 9′ at the last WP5, was cut off in his momentum by the mechanics of his Peugeot 3008 DKR – PH Sport.

According to France TV, the nine-time world rally champion was forced to stop, twice, to try to repair a universal joint on his mount, causing him to lose any chance of this day (with two stops of more than 20′) and any chance of moving up to second position overall against Nani Roma.

# Dakar2019 Broken universal joint for Loeb km 275. Repair his water carrier with Pierre Lachaume @francetvsport

— gael robic (@gael_robic) January 16, 2019

Nasser Al-Attiyah ultimately won in Pisco with a 4'58" lead over Nani Roma and 7'15" over Giniel de Villiers (Toyota). Cyril Despres (Mini) could have benefited from Sébastien Loeb's worries after having followed in the Alsatian's footsteps for a long time, but, according to ASO, the former motorcycle winner lay down in the final portion of the course this Wednesday.

Despres finally left to conclude with almost 40′ lost on Al-Attiyah today.

Jakub Przygonski (Mini) was also expected to struggle in this same sector and crossed the line 14′ behind Al-Attiyah. Sébastien Loeb finished 1h15′ behind Al-Attiyah.

Provisional classification stage 9

In the general classification, Nasser Al-Attiyah has a 51'27" margin over Nani Roma and should finish the 2019 Dakar as a winner tomorrow in Lima, for a possible first victory for Toyota. Sébastien Loeb, despite his problems today, retains third place more than 2h02′ ahead of Jakub Przygonski and Cyril Despres.

Provisional general classification after Stage 9

Note that Carlos Sainz (Mini) started very late, when Bernhard Ten Brinke (Toyota) seemed not to have started.

The final stage of the Dakar 2019 will bring the peloton back to Lima tomorrow where the finish will be judged after a final 112 km special.

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