The 2022 Dakar Rally has reached its rest day after the dispute of a prologue and six exciting stages. This first week has been marked by navigation failures experienced by a large number of pilots in the first stage disputed at Ha’il. After that day, many of the favorites to win the final victory saw a large part of their options disappear. Many have started the road to comeback thereafter, while battling for as many stage victories as possible.
Mechanical problems and accidents, as usual in this test, have also played a fundamental role in the definition of the general classifications. In addition, in the last two days motorcycle and quad riders have seen their performance conditioned after the neutralization of the fifth and sixth stages at different points along the way. In the first case, a sandstorm forced the helicopters to land, while yesterday it was the poor conditions of the runway that brought the race to a halt.
Sam Sunderland is at the head of the general in motorcycles with a time of 19 hours, 55 minutes and 59 seconds. The British rider has not yet achieved a stage victory, which shows that consistency is a prerequisite for a good final result. He is followed by the Austrian Matthias Walker at just 2 minutes and 39 seconds. Daniel Sanders is third at 5 minutes and 35 seconds the leader after scoring three partial victories so far in the competition. The Australian was re-engaging in the fight after the fourth stage when the 10-minute penalty that had been previously imposed on him was canceled. Adrien Van Beveren ranks fourth, 7 minutes 43 seconds behind the head. Pablo Quintanilla closes the ‘top 5’ somewhat more off the hook than the rest. For its part, Lorenzo Santolino is the best Spaniard in the category occupying sixth place.
Alexandre Giroud is so far the leader in the quad category with a time of 25 hours, 18 minutes and 29 seconds. The differences between the first classified are greater in this category than those seen on motorcycles. Thus, the second classified, Pablo Copetti, is at a distance of 4 minutes and 52 seconds. The winner of the last special stage, Aleksandr Maksimov, has climbed to third place 36 minutes and 15 seconds from Giroud after the abandonment of Manuel Andújar yesterday. Kamil Wisniewski is fourth to 1 hour, 32 minutes and 33 seconds from first place. In fifth place we find the Argentine Francisco Moreno at a distance of 1 hour, 49 minutes and 18 seconds. The best Spanish representative in the category is Álex Feliú in eighth place, although 13 and a half hours behind the leader.
Loading tweet …
1479519797503311875
Nasser Al-Attiyah seems to have no rival so far in the car category. The Qatari completed the first week of competition without major errors, scoring the victory in three stages. The leader accumulates a time of 20 hours, 37 minutes and 24 seconds. Local driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi took second place yesterday, 48 minutes and 54 seconds behind, after overtaking Sébastien Loeb. The Frenchman is third, 50 minutes and 25 seconds from the lead. Giniel de Villiers is fourth at 51 minutes 56 seconds from the lead. Al-Attiyah’s teammate has returned to the top spots after the five-hour ban he had initially received for his two incidents with ‘motards’ was lifted. Argentine Lucio Álvarez closes the top 5 with Armand Monleón with a loss of 1 hour, 6 minutes and 58 seconds. No Spanish rider is among the top twenty so far.
‘Vest’ López is at the forefront of the general classification in the category of light prototypes with a time of 24 hours, 19 minutes and 17 seconds. Sebastian Eriksson is second at a distance of 23 minutes and 9 seconds. The third and fourth place of the general is occupied by Spanish pilots. Cristina Gutiérrez is third at 2 hours, 20 minutes and 16 seconds, while Fernando Álvarez, also Spanish, is 2 and a half hours behind the leader. The ‘top 5’ is closed by Philippe Pinchedez just two seconds from fourth place. It is worth highlighting the figure of Seth Quintero, who occupies the 31st position in the general ranking, despite having won six of the seven at stake.. The mechanical problem that he suffered in stage 2 ruined all his options, but the American continues to give us great performances in this Dakar.
Loading tweet …
1479456537747677189
The Side by Side category is led by Brazilian Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira, winner of stage 5, with a time of 25 hours, 4 minutes and 1 second. American Austin Jones is second at a distance of 6 minutes and 56 seconds. The provisional third place is for Michal Goczal with a loss of 28 minutes and six seconds. The Polish rider has claimed two stage victories so far in the competition. Gerard Farres Guell is the best Spaniard in the category, ranking fourth. It is 29 minutes and 8 seconds from the head. Closing the group of the five best, we find Rokas Baciuska to which 46 minutes and 26 seconds separate him from the first place.
In trucks the leadership of the KAMAZ team it is unshakable. Its four drivers have shared the seven victories of specials that have been disputed so far and the first three places in the general classification. Dmitry Sotnikov leads with a time of 22 hours, 25 minutes and 45 seconds. Eduard Nikolaev is chasing him at 10 minutes and 29 seconds, while Anton Shibalov is third at 38 minutes and 17 seconds. Janus Van Kasteren is fourth overall, 1 hour, 4 minutes and 54 seconds behind the lead, which seems unattainable after what has been observed these days. The ‘top 5’ is completed by Ales Loprais 1 hour, 6 minutes and 20 seconds from first place. In sixth place we find the other Kamaz rider, Andrey Karginov, who already has three stage victories in his pocket in this edition of the rally.