Colin-on-Cars - Nasser’s fourth and Toyota’s second win as Sunderland wins bikes for GasGas

Nasser Al Attiyah and Mattieu Baumel’s Proudly South African Gazoo Toyota Hilux have won the 2022 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. British rider Sam Sunderland took his second bike win for GasGas. American Austin Jones and Gustavo Gugelmin stole as last gasp Side by Sides win and Argentine Francisco Contardo and Pablo Vinagre took the UTV win.

Sam Sunderland

Dmitry Sotnikov, Ruslan Akhmadeev and Ilgiz Akhmetzianov led home a 1-2-3-4 as Kamaz dominated the truck race. And Frenchman Alexandre Giroud’s Yamaha took the overall quad win.

Al Attiyah, Baumel Led for the Entire Two Weeks

Al Attiyah and Baumel led the 4,000 km two-week race across the Saudi Arabian Desert from start to finish. They won by 27 minutes from Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter. Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux was third from Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras’ Hunter. SA Gazoo Racing heroes, Giniel de Villiers and Denis Murphy made it three SA Hiluxes in the top five. SA crews, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century stole 14th from Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Hilux on the final stage!

Giniel de Villiers

On two wheels, Sunderland took his second and KTM offshoot GasGas’ maiden win in a close duel throughout. Argentine Pablo Quintanilla’s Honda was second, 3 minutes 27 adrift from Matthias Walkner's KTM, Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren's Yamaha and Honda trio Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort Californian Ricky Brabec and Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo. 

Andrew Short’s Yamaha was 8th from  top bike rookie, Mason Klein and Toby Price’s KTM. South Africans, Aron Mare’s Hero ended 16th and Bradley Cox 25th on his KTM.

Lategan, Quintanilla Won Final Day

South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings closed the Dakar off in style for Toyota as they stormed to the final car stage win after fighting Stephane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger’s mighty petrol electric Audi and Baragwanath and Cremer’s Century off in an epic finale. Quintanilla won Fridays bike race from Brabec, Price, Florimo and Barreda and Klein, with Sunderland ninth. Francisco Moreno took the quad stage. 

Hein Lategan

Al Attiyah and Baumel’s Hilux took the advantage at the New Year’s Day Prologue and never looked back. Critically, they dodged any real problems throughout to deliver a perfect Dakar and score Nasser’s fourth, Mattieu’s third and the Proudly South African Gazoo Racing Toyota Hilux's second Dakar victories. Perhaps surprisingly, Attiyah and Baumel only won two stages throughout. But they were only slightly outside of the top ten once in two weeks of racing.

Loeb and Lurquin were second for all but one day of the race. They won two stages and were second on another two, and only dropped to third on the second of two days they hit trouble. But that was enough to allow Attiyah to escape and leave the World Rally legend short of a Dakar win as he jets off to his next appointment at the Monte Carlo Rally. Al Rajhi and Orr delivered their best Dakar result in third after a consistent run without any real issues. Their best stage result was third on Day 6. Dakar consistency is king!

Giniel de Villiers’ Golden Dakar Record

Terranova and Carreras were sixteenth or better every day, broke into the top ten on day 5 and won a stage en route to Orlando's best ever fourth overall. Giniel has never been out of the Dakar top ten in any of the 19 Dakars he has raced. He and Murphy were taken out of the top 3 on a disastrous Day 7, but bounced back to win day 9 as they fought back to fifth overall. Consistency also favoured Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk’s rise to sixth overall for Mini. And his 7th top ten in 13 Dakar starts.

Brian Baragwanath

Vladimir Vasilyev and Oleg Uperenko’s BMW was also consistent, only once in the daily top ten, they finished seventh. Best-placed of the Kyalami-built Century CR6s, Mattieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier equalled Mattieu's Dakar best 8th place finish. They fought back from a first day disaster with a best fourth place on Day 5. Best of the Audis, Mattias Ekstrom and Emil Bergkvist won a stage to balance off their issues to end ninth, while another consistent crew, Sebastien Halpern and Bernard Graue’s Mini was top tenth.

For the rest, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz won two sages as they chased back to 11th, Stephane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger one. Their petrol-electric Audi RS Q e-Trons shook off early issues to deliver ominous pace on debut with four stage wins on debut. Triple South African champions, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings were the only other car stage winners with double day wins, after they took up water carrying duty following early issues with their Proudly South African Hilux. They fought back to a provisional 32nd.

Baragwanath, Variyawa Both in Top 20

Outside the top ten, South African crews Baragwanath and Cremer’s SA built Century CR6 passed Variyawa and Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux for 15th in the final stage! Brian and Leonard had a troubled start and fought back from 44th on Day 1, Variyawa and Stassen has another consistent run as they rose from 29th to 14th. Chris Visser and Rodney Burke ran in the top ten on several occasions, but a difficult stage 8 dropped them down the order to end up a commendable 29th in their Century.

Fellow SA Cross Country regulars, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne’s Century CR6 endured two tough days, but soldiered on to 38th. And a fine car rookie second overall. Fellow Century rookies, Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren had an incredible adventure to overcome a disastrous Day 3 as they came to grips with their brand new car to end 63rd. SA navigators, Taye Perry guided Dakar bike legend Cyril Despres’ Peugeot to 18th, while Ryan Bland read notes for Daniel Schroder to 36th in their SA-built Red Lined VK50.

Both Toyota and Hunter clearly benefited Dakar’s new fat tyre, long travel suspension T1+ rules. As well as the Toyota’s switch from V8 to turbo V6 power. Toyota won four stages, Hunter three, as both teams endured far fewer punctures en route to the top five places. But the all-new Audis also won four stages as they grew in stature through the race to deliver ominous petrol-electric pace. They will be significant rivals in future. Century however slipped, in part thanks to their rivals’ 4x4 rule breaks. Time for a turbo V6, perhaps?

GasGas Came, Saw & Conquered the Bikes

Anton Mare

Moving over to the bikes, GasGas came, saw and conquered. But that was easier said than done as Dakar once again delivered wildly varying day to day results. The top riders home on one day were inevitably severely compromised on the next, and two different groups of riders inevitably emerged in front, every second day. GasGas rider Daniel Sanders won the opening two stages, before teammate Sunderland moved ahead to lead through to Day 6. He dropped back to fifth after a tough day 7, before fighting back.

The overall lead then changed daily as Sunderland, Mattias Walkner and Adrien van Beveren took turns out front. But a tough eleventh day saw Sunderland emerge on top from Pablo Quintanilla, Walkner, van Beveren, Barreda and Ricky Brabec. Sunderland  went on to take his second and GasGas' maiden Dakar wins. He only one won stage on Day 8, benefiting his low starting order.Honda teammates  Barreda,  Jose Flormino and Sanders each won two stages, and Hero rider Joaquin Rodriguez, KTM men Price, and Benavides and Quintanilla one each. 

MotoGP refugee rookie Danilo Petrucci spectacularly won a day too, ahead of Botswana hero Ross Branch. Ross crashed the following day and bravely rejoined the day after, but opted to stop a day later. South African Aron Mare only found out he’d substitute Hero rider Franco Caimi a week before the start. Still, he started off in the top 10 and ran within the top 20 throughout to end up a creditable 16th overall on his second Dakar.

SA Champion, Rookie Cox Impressed

SA Cross Country champion, Dakar rookie Bradley Cox teased the top ten throughout the first week, but a tough break after damaging his bike and struggling home on day 9 dropped him out of the top 20. He soldiered on to finish 24th and third among the rookies on debut. Four Southern Africans raced in the no assistance Original class. Rookie 2020 SA OR1 Cross Country champion Charan Moore had a consistent run within the top 40 throughout to 34th overall, 8th among the rookies and fourth and top rookie in Original.

Bradley Cox

Botswana rider John Kelly delivered a consistent performance to rise from 62nd to 46th overall through the two weeks of Dakar. He ended seventh and second rookie home in Original. Ever popular SA rider Stuart Gregory was 65th overall and a fine 13th in Original. Another SA rookie, Werner Kennedy picked up places daily to climb from 111th to 88th overall and 22nd in Original. Swazi rider Werner Terblanche started 113rd and finished 81st. Mozambican Paulo Oliveira stopped on the penultimate day but rejoined to finish 116th.

Frenchman Alexandre Giroud survived to take the quad victory. He moved ahead on Day 5 and stayed there to take an easy win. Most rivals retired to leave Argentine Francisco Moreno and Pole Wisniewski to pick up the pieces in second and third among the nine finishers. Argentine Francisco Contardo and Pablo Vinagre took an easy UTV win from Sebastian Eriksson and Wouter Rosegaar and Cristina Gutierrez and Francois Cazalet. SA Cross Country regular, Dubai's Thomas Bell and Bruno Jacomy ended 8th. 

Dmitry Sotnikov

Dakar: Where to Now?

It was far tighter in the Side by Sides as American Austin Jones and Gustavo Gugelmin stole the win from Spaniards Gerard Farres Guell in the final stage, with Poles Marek Goczal and Szymon Gospodarczyk third. SA crew Geoff Minnitt and Siegfried Rousseau retired after a crash on Day 6. Last but not least, Kamaz uttely dominated the trucks as Russian crews Dmitry Sotnikov, Ruslan Akhmadeev and Ilgiz Akhmetzianov led home a 1-2-3-4 from compatriot drivers Eduard Nikolaev, Anton Shiboliev and Anrey Karginov.

409 machines started the Dakar including 89 cars, 144 motorcycles, 95 UTVs and Side by Sides, 20 quads and 56 trucks. 73 cars, Two weeks later, 84 cars, 124 bikes, nine quads, 82 lightweight vehicles and 50 trucks remained, although several competitors took advantage of new joker rules to rejoin this year.

Dakar 2022 however raced under a cloud amid French government calls to can the event following an alleged terrorist bomb blast that hurt a French competitor before the race on the first morning. That may well call Saudi Arabia’s future as Dakar's host, leading to speculation about where, exactly the 2022 race may happen. Southern Africa, perhaps? Now would a Dakar through South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Namibia be a New Year’s treat. That is merely speculation. But pretty cool speculation at it... 

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Colin-on-Cars - Proudly SA Hilux 164 km away from victory as bike lead changes

Dakar's penultimate day of racing around the Arabian Desert town of Bisha was static among the cars. Carlos Sainz took Audi’s fourth stage as overall leader Nasser Al Attiyah guarded his 28 minute lead over Sebastien Loeb into the final day.

Nasser Al-Attiyah guarding his precious lead

But the bike race was dramatic.

Minutes

The virtual overall lead changed twice within a matter of minutes as Sam Sunderland stormed ahead, only to be pipped at the post by Kevin Benavides in the day’s final sector. Sunderland however re-took the overall lead with just 164 km left to race.

Sam Sunderland

Sainz, who complained about his Audi Sport RS Q e-tron’s lack of parity before the race, and and Lucas Cruz took command of the day from the outset.

Future

Far from a lack, his pace was instead ominous for the future as he duly powered to his 42nd and the revolutionary petrol-electric machine’s second stage win on the trot. It was also Audi's fourth win in its maiden Dakar and a positive sign for the team for the future, considering the new car had never raced before.

Carlos Sainz

Luciano Alvarez and Armand Monelon’s Toyota Hilux was best of the rest ahead of ever consistent rookie Audi crew Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist. Nani Rome and Alex Haro’s BRX Hunter, Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Gazoo Hilux and Stephane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger’s Audi followed.

Next came overall leaders, Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Proudly South African Hilux. They took advantage of rivals Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s Hunter's slow final sector to open their overall lead to over 33 minutes. Which includes a bonus 5 minutes after Loeb suffered a liaison speeding penalty.

Fifth

It was a good day for de Villiers and Murphy, who moved back into fifth overall behind Saudi home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux, and Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras' BRX Hunter.

Giniel De Villiers

Fellow South Africans, Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux in 12th and Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s SA built Century CR6 provisionally 13th also had positive runs, as they continued in their fight over 14th overall.

It was less successful for Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings. They had to stop to remedy an issue on the fourth Gazoo Hilux and were running 43rd behind the Centuries of compatriots Chris Visser and Rodney Burke, and Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne at the time of writing.

Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren followed in 50th, while SA navigators, Taye Perry was 35th, reading notes in Cyril Despres’ Peugeot and Ryan Bland 44th alongside Daniel Schroeder in their SA-built Red-Lined VK50.

Dramatic

The bike race began in dramatic fashion. A disastrous start saw overnight leader, Adrien van Beveren’s Yamaha lose 15 minutes in the first sector. That allowed quickest man through, Matthias Walkner’s KTM to move into the overall lead.

But only until Sam Sunderland checked through and moved ahead on his Gas Gas. So Sunderland led the day and overall. But it was not to be. Reigning champion Kevin Benavides had taken his joker to rejoin after retiring with a broken engine on his KTM, and pip Sunderland by 4 seconds.

Joaquin Rodrigues' Hero was third home ahead of Walkner and Honda trio Ricky Brabec, Pablo Quintanilla and Jose Cornejo Florimo. All of them started well outside of the top ten on a day that punished the front runners.

The first four away, Toby Price’s KTM ended up 28th, Luciano Benavides’ Husqvarna 26th, Juan Barreda’s Honda 21st and overnight leader van Beveren 15th. And while he led Sunderland, Quintailla and Walkner at the outset, it was all change as Sundeland led Quintailla, Walkner and van Beveren by the end of play.

Service

Bradley Cox was best of the South Africans in 20th on his KTM and Aron Mare's Hero 25th. Original no service class quartet, Charan Moore was 40th and 4th in class, Botswana’s John Kelly 51st overall and 8th in Original, Stuart Gregory 86th and 18th in class and Werner Kennedy 97th overall and 22nd in Original.

Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche was still running 88th and Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 120th. Mare starts the final day 16th, Cox 35th, Moore 34th, Kelly 45th and Gregory 64th.

Dominant quad leader Alex Giroud cruised through the stage as Marcelo Medeiros took another stage win over the seven remaining riders. UTV leader Seth Quintero won the day and side-by-side leader Austin Jones was controlling his position running fourth on the day.

Truck leader Sotnikov shadowed teammates Karginov and Nikolaiev in yet another dominant Kamaz 1-2-3. All that remains after 3,830 km of racing in Dakar 2022, is the final 164 run to Jeddah on Friday. But remember, Dakar is never over, 'til it’s over! 

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Colin-on-Cars - Proudly South African Gazoo Hilux leads cars, but it's all change in the bikes

Proudly South African Toyota Gazoo Racing stars Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel kept an iron fist on their overall 2022 Dakar Rally lead on Day 10 in Saudi Arabia. Petrol-electric Audi duo Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz dominated the day's 384 km car race to Bisha.

Stephane Peterhansel

KTM rider Toby Price meanwhile made up for a disastrous day for KTM by winning Wednesday’s race. But Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren moved back into the 2 wheeler lead.

Dominate

While it was all about the Toyotas among the cars Tuesday, it was the chance of the Audi Sport RS Q e-trons to dominate on Wednesday as the Hiluxes opened the road. It may have taken Mr Dakar a while, but Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger finally scored his 49th Dakar day win.

They fought teammates Sainz and Lucas Cruz off for the honour. That moved Peterhansel to just one stage win short of Dakar legend Ari Vatanen’s record 50 stage victories in Audi’s third stage win of 2022.

Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras came home third in their BRX Hunter, ahead of the best of the South Africans, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Gazoo Toyota Hilux. Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s Hunter was next from Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk’s Mini.

Henk Lategan

Penalty

Overall leaders Al Attiyah and Baumel’s Gazoo Hilux in seventh, to keep their lead to Loeb and Lurquin above 30 minutes. That despite a 5 minute seatbelt penalty overnight. Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux is third from Terranova and Przygonski.

Tuesday winners, SA crew Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Gazoo Hilux had a tougher day in 15th, as they slipped to sixth overall behind Przygonski. Compatriots, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s SA built Century CR6 was 20th, Chris Visser and Rodney Burke’s similar machine 22nd and Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux 23rd. Century pair, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne were 32nd and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 47th.

SA navigators, Taye Perry ended 19th and Ryan Bland 57th.

Toby Price

Wednesday claimed another major bike scalp as 2021 winner and an overall contender for 2022 honours, Kevin Benavides retired with mechanical problems. KTM’s day went even worse, when overnight leader lost over seven minutes, something he could ill afford in such a tight race.

Front

Polish privateer Maciej Gizema was the surprise leader early on in a close race, before the big guns took over at the front. Juan Barreda's Honda then led until mid distance, when teammate Pablo Quintanilla took over. 

But Toby Price was having none of it and made up for KTM’s earlier disappointment to move ahead later in the day and take a two minute win. Luciano Benavides’ Husqvarna was second from Barreda, van Beveren's Yamaha, Lorenzo Santolino's Sherco and Andrew Short's Yamaha after Quintanilla also lost time later on.

The upshot of that is that Adrien van Beveren has moved back into a 5 minute bike lead over Sam Sunderland’s Gas Gas, Quintailla, Walkner, Barreda and Price.

Rookie

South African Aron Mare finished 16th on his Hero and sits 17th overall. His rookie compatriot, Bradley Cox was 30th on the day and sits 27th overall on his KTM. Original class quartet, SA rookie, Charan Moore was 46th and sixth in the no-service category, and Botswana's John Kelly 46th and 7th in class.

Fellow ‘Malle Moto’ SA men, Stuart Gregory was 65th overall and 16th in class and Werner Kennedy 94th overall and 23rd in Original. Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche was 87th and Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 100th on the day.

In the other Dakar classes, Marcelo Medeiros took the quad win in a decimated field. Overall leader Alex Giroud cruised to third after closest rival Pablo Copetti also hit trouble.

Trucks

Overall leader Austin Jones maintained a watching brief in the Side by Sides, while new UTV leader Seth Quintero led Christinia Gutierrez home. And overall leader Sotnikov was in charge of a Kamaz 1-2-3-4 among the trucks.

Just 510 kilometres of racing remain of the 4,000 km Dakar 2022 over the final two days. Thursday is a 346 km blast around Bisha, before the final 164 run to Jeddah on Friday.

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Colin-on-Cars - Classic event attracting very special cars

Rare, precious and beautiful classic sportscars are set to take to the roads of the Western Cape in March when the Cape 1000 gets under way.

South Africa’s own ‘Mille Miglia’-styled classic car event was announced late last year and organiser, Ross Crichton says: “We are very pleased with the response to our call for entries. For this inaugural 1000 Mile Tribute event we decided on a limit of 60 cars, and I’m pleased to announce that just about half of those available slots have already been snapped up!”

Confirmed

Some of the exotic cars already confirmed to compete in the four categories of event, which pays homage to the iconic Mille Miglia, a historic 1 000-mile race that took place in Italy from 1927 to 1957, include a super-rare 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, a 1955 Jaguar XK140 OTS, 1974 Porsche 911 2.7 RS and even what is arguably the most iconic of all supercars, a 1990 Ferrari F40.

The event, which kicks off with registration at the V&A Waterfront on Tuesday, March 8, will be run over the course of four days (five nights). It will include regularity stages, non-competitive track events and “a healthy dose of grand touring” according to the route planners, Dave Alexander and Di Dougmore.

Limited

Entries are limited to certain brands, models and by invitation or application (and subject to approval by the admissions committee to ensure a line-up of top-end entrants).

The categories are:

- 1927-1957: Mille Miglia Specific

- Pre-1976: Classic

- 1977-1996: Modern Classic

- 1997-2021: Sports

The action begins when the 60 glamorous vehicles leave the V&A Waterfront on Wednesday, March 9 and head for Hermanus along some of South Africa’s most scenic coastal routes.

The following day’s drive takes entrants from Hermanus to the postcard-pretty surrounds of Franschhoek while Day 3 leads competitors to St. Helena Bay on the West Coast, before returning to Cape Town the following day.

Negotiated

“We call on any automotive enthusiast interested in participating in this exclusive event to get in touch as soon as possible to avoid disappointment,” says Crichton. “We have also negotiated special rates for owners who need to transport competing vehicles from Johannesburg to Cape Town and back.”

The Cape 1000 is organised by Super Car Lifestyle (which also hosts the Round Table Cannonball Run Africa, Concours South Africa etc.) together with Cars.co.za, SCL Travel and Silvercrest Super Car Insurance.

Beneficiaries of the Cape 1000 include the Motorsport Legends Benevolent Fund and Quadpara Association of South Africa (QASA).

Registrations are now open on www.cape1000.com or by contacting info@cape1000.com. Entries close on  January 24.

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Colin-on-Cars - De Villiers beats Lategan as Attiyah extends overall lead in third

Tuesday’s eighth Dakar Rally 2022 proved the best ever from a South African point of view. Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy led teammates Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and overall leaders Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel to a delightful Gazoo Toyota Hilux 1-2-3.

Giniel de Villiers

Al Attiyah and Baumel meanwhile consolidated their rally lead, while several other South African car and bike crews impressed. Honda rider Jose Florimo won the bike day as Mattias Walkner moved ahead overall for KTM.

Romp

It was a purple day on the Dakar time sheets for the Proudly South African team. Lategan and Cummings led the way early on, before de Villiers and Murphy took over up front after 120 km of the mountainous 287 km romp around Wadi Ad-Dawasir.

Giniel went on to take his 18th Dakar stage win by just nine seconds from Henk. Attiyah and Baumel came home a minute adrift, with Monday’s winners Audi RS Q e-Tron rookies Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist next home. Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter was fifth.

Brian Baragwanath

It was a good day all round for South African crews. Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s made in SA Century CR6 was 9th, Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux 11th. Three more all-South African Century CR6s, Chris Visser and Rodney Burke ended 27th, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne 37th, and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 44th.

SA navigators, Taye Perry ended 23rd alongside bike legend Cyril Despres in a Peugeot and Ryan Bland 44th with Daniel Schroder in their SA-built Red-Lined VK 50.

Overall

Overall, Al Attiyah and Baumel opened their overall advantage over Loeb and Lurquin, who escaped a time penalty for losing a spare wheel in the desert on Monday with a fine, to almost 40 minutes. Saudi home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux sat a further 19 minutes adrift in third.

De Villiers and Murphy meanwhile jumped two more places up to fifth, just nine minutes behind Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras' BRX Hunter. Variyawa and Stassen sit 14th, Baragwanath and Cremer 16th. 

Tuesday’s bike stage proved a straight fight between Honda teammates, Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo and Californian Ricky Brabec, who swapped the lead a few times through the day.

Matthias Walkner

Cornejo won, but KTM’s Argentine Honda refugee Kevin Benavides sneaked into second ahead of Brabec late in the day. Another factory KTM man, Mattias Walkner rode in fourth ahead of Spain’s Juan Barreda Bort’s Honda and American Andrew Short’s Yamaha. 

Tough

Overnight leader Sam Sunderland had a tough day in 14th, eight minutes off Flormino’s pace. Which means that he now slips to second, two minutes behind Walkner. Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren, Honda rider Pablo Quintanilla, Benavides and Barreda are all close enough to benefit any mistakes up front.

South African super sub Aron Mare ended 21st on his Hero and sits 17th overall. It was not a good day for SA rookie Bradley Cox, losing time as he lost an hour in the stage to come home 90th and slip to 27th overall.

Another SA rookie, Charan Moore was 35th overall and second in the no-service Original class. Botswana's John Kelly rode home 46th after breaking into the top 40 earlier in the day, and 7th in Original.

They remain fourth and seventh overall in Original. Fellow ‘Malle Moto’ men, Stuart Gregory was 83rd overall and 17th in class and Werner Kennedy 91st overall and 22nd in Original. They sit 12th and 21st overall in Original. Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche ended 82nd on Monday, Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 113rd.

Quad

In the other Dakar classes, Pablo Copetti beat Marcelo Medeiros to the quad win as Copetti took a couple of minutes out of overall leader Alex Giroud’s half hour advantage.

Overall leader Austin Jones split Goczal brothers Marek and Michel in the Side by Sides and Seth Quintero beat overall leader Francisco Lopez Contardo to lightweight honours. And the Russians remain unbeaten in the tricks, where Nikolaiev took the day ahead of overall leader Sotnikov.

Tuesday’s 384 km race from Wadi Ad Dawasir to Bisha is said to be one of the fastest of Dakar 2022’s 4,000 km of racing through the Saudi Arabian Desert. The Dakar Rally concludes in Jeddah on Friday.

Henk Lategan

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Colin-on-Cars - Audis deliver ominous pace as Loeb chips away at Attiyah’s lead

Dakar Rally Day 8 ended up dispelling a few myths in the car race on the day. But the overall race remained tense as second man Sebastian Loeb continued to hunt leader Nasser Al Attiyah down. Daniel Sanders meanwhile reclaimed the overall bike lead with a dominant performance on the road to Wadi Ad Dawasir.

Sebastien Loeb

If anyone was concerned about the new petrol-electric Dakar Audi RS Q e-Tron’s lack of speed, that was officially dispelled on Monday’s complex 396 km run. Rookie crew Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist put one over Mister Dakar, 14-time winner Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger in an emphatic maiden Audi 1-2. Teammates Carlos Sainz Sr. and Lukas Cruz were fourth. Third overall by over two minutes, Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter was more likely the main focus of attention on the day. 

Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist

All eyes were on Loeb and Lurquin, because they took more than seven minutes out of Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Gazoo Toyota Hilux’s overall car lead. They now sit under 38 minutes adrift. Attiyah suffered a differential issue and a puncture on the day. That said, the wily Qatari can be said to be preserving his Hilux. To stave the french multiple World Rally Champion off when he needs to, later in the week. Loeb is on the other hand eking all he can out of his Hunter, to close the gap. Still, Attiyah came home outside the day’s top ten.

Climbed

That left Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings as the best of the factory Gazoo Hiluxes in fifth. Teammates Giniel de Villiers and Denis Murphy were ninth and consistent Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen 12th. De Villiers and Murphy climbed two places overall to seventh overall and still have a realistic shot at a podium, with four full days of desert racing still to come. Variawa and Stassen meanwhile climbed to 13th overall, one place ahead of Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century. They ended outside Monday’s top 20.

All-South African Century Racing trio, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne were provisionally 39th, and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 52nd. But Chris Visser and Rodney Burke’s splendid run inside the top 20 came to an end with the crew still racing deep in the stage, having lost 3 hours at the time of writing. SA-born navigator Taye Perry ended 15th reading notes in Dakar bike legend Cyril Despres’ Peugeot. And Ryan Bland sat 43rd with Daniel Schroder in their SA-built Red-Lined VK 50.

Drama

There was once again drama before the bike stage even started. Botswana’s triple South African Cross Country champion Ross Branch opted not to further risk his Friday leg injury and joined Daniel Sanders and Skyler Howes in retirement before the start. Ross was just starting to warm up, having ended second by just two seconds to MotoGP refugee sensation on Thursday, before crashing hard on Friday. He rejoined on Sunday but decided to put discretion ahead of valour Tuesday morning.

Sam Sunderland

If Sunday was difficult for bikers Sam Sunderland and Mattias Walkner, they certainly made good on Monday. Taking advantage of their 27th and 23rd starting positions, Sunderland’s Gas Gas led all the way. Walkner moved his KTM into second at 200 km, only for Pablo Quintanilla’s Honda to pip him at the post. Ricky Brabec’s Honda was fourth from KTM duo, rookie privateer Mason Klein and Toby Price. So, Sunderland re-took the overall lead from Walkner, former leader Adrian van Beveren’s Yamaha and Quintanilla.

Rookie

SA riders, Bradley Cox’s KTM was 16th and second in rookie Moto 2, and Aron Mare’s Hero 21st. Mare sits 17th overall, Cox 18th. SA rookie Charan Moore was 44th overall and fifth in the no-service Original class, Botswana's John Kelly 47th and 7th in Original. They provisionally respectively lie fourth and seventh in Original. Fellow ‘Malle Moto’ men, Stuart Gregory was 86th and Werner Kennedy 114th overall. Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche was running 91st on Monday, Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 115th.

In the other Dakar classes, Overall leader Alex Giroud fought Marcelo Medeiros off for the quad win with Pablo Copetti third. The lightweights were still racing as we wrote, with Goczal brothers Marek and Michel fighting it out for Side by Side honours with overall leader Austin Jones in pursuit. Seth Quintero was battling Pavel Lebedev in the prototypes with overall leader Francisco Contardo keeping a watching brief. And Kamaz four, overall leader Sotnikov, Karginov Shibalov and Nikolaiev were in control of the trucks.

Tuesday's mountainous eighth stage is a shortish 287km dash around Wadi Ad Dawasir. The two-week 4,000 km two-week Dakar Rally across the Saudi Arabian Desert finishes in Jeddah on Friday. 

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Colin-on-Cars - Loeb takes day, Attiyah still in control as Flormino wins dramatic bikes

Sunday’s Dakar Rally Day 7 proved a dogfight in the desert as Sebastien Loeb and Nasser Al Attiyah escaped a multi-car dice to see second man Loeb took the day and more than five minutes out of Attiyah’s overall lead.

Nasser versus Sebastian

It was a dramatic day in the bikes as third overall Daniel Sanders crashed out of the race in a crash en route to the day’s racing stage and the other two top men overall were delayed to see Jose Florimo take the day and Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren to move into the rally lead.

The 402 km race from Riyadh to Al Dawadimi commenced with 100 km of dunes before a less technical, but more navigationally challenging maze of winding tracks. It proved something of a dogfight up front with overall car leaders Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Gazoo Toyota Hilux, and second, third and fourth crews, Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux, Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter fighting it out in a group at the head of the car bunch. 

They were joined by Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Gazoo Hilux, and Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist, Carlos Sainz Sr. and Lukas Cruz’ and Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger’s petrol-electric Audi RS Q e-Trons. All of the above were initially in or about the top three in an epic battle that raged for most of the morning. But de Villiers hit trouble and lost 50 minutes and Lategan 40 as he stopped to help his stricken teammate. While Loeb stormed ahead, as he opened his lead up over the pursuing Al Attiyah up front. 

Stephane Peterhansel

Loeb duly took the day by 5 minutes from Attiyah, Sainz, Peterhansel, Al Rajhi and Bernhard Ten Brinke’s Hilux. Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Hilux and Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century both had good days to once again keep South African hopes alive in a provisional 12th and 13th. Century trio Chris Visser and Rodney Burke were provisionally 26th, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne 40th and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 53rd. SA navigators Taye Perry was 26th and Ryan Bland 43rd. 

All of which saw Loeb slice his deficit to Al Attiyah to three-quarters of an hour overall, with Al Rajhi handily placed 9 minutes adrift in third. Jakub Przygonski’s Mini, Orlando Terranova’s Hunter, Vladimir Vasiliyev’s BMW and Martin Prokop’s Ford are fighting over eighth, with de Villiers looming large in ninth. Visser is 16th, Variyawa 17th and Baragwanath 18th.

There was huge drama before the bike stage even started. Third rider overall and the winner of stages 1 and 6, Daniel Sanders crashed out in the open section en route to the start. The Aussie injured his left arm and was taken to hospital. That left overall leader, Brit Sam Sunderland to defend Gas Gas honour alone after the team’s two riders had led Dakar 2022 for most of the way through the first week.

Jose Ignacio Conrejo Florimo

Sanders joins Husqvarna star Skyler Howes' in retirement, but there was good news for SA fans as Botswana hero Ross Branch took his joker to return to Dakar aboard his Yamaha on Sunday, after crashing out in Friday’s truncated bike stage. Like MotoGP refugee Danilo Petrucci, who’s KTM Branch followed home in second on Thursday, Ross rejoins and can still qualify for world rally raid championship points handed to the top five in each discipline at the Dakar, for the first time this year.

Aussie Toby Price led early on before he and teammate Walkner faded. So Chilean Jose Ignacio Conrejo Florimo led the way to win for Honda from reigning champion Kevin Benavides’ KTM, Honda teammate, Joan Barreda Bort nursing a shoulder injury, Benavides’ brother Luciano, Lorenzo Santolino’s Sherco and Joaqim Rodriguez’ Hero. Ross Branch ran fifth early in before dropping down the order and fighting back to 13th. SA lads, Bradley Cox’s KTM was 20th and second in rookie Moto 2, and Aron Mare’s Hero 22nd. 

Dakar rookies, SA man Charan Moore provisionally ended 40th, Botswana rider John Kelly 56th and SA's Stuart Gregory 86th and Werner Kennedy 97th. All four are racing in the Original class, without back-up crew and must service their machines themselves. Moore and Kelly, who topped Friday’s ‘Malle Moto’ podium, were fourth and 8th in class on Sunday, Gregory 19th and Kennedy 22nd. Moore sat third overall behind Lithuanian Arunas Gelažninkas in Malle Moto, Kelly 6th. Gregory 13th and Kennedy 24th Sunday evening.

Swaziland’s Walter Terblanche was 100th on Sunday, Mozambican Paulo Oliveira 115th. Overall, it’s all change up front, where Adrian van Beveren, who ended 10th on Sunday, moved into a 5 minute overall lead over  KTM man Mattias Walkner, who ended a troubled 24th on the day. Kevin Benavides sat third from former leader Sunderland’s Gas Gas, Santolino, Pablo Quintanilla’s Honda, teammate Barreda and Stefan Svitko’s private KTM in 7th. All of them are within ten minutes of the lead.

Shameer Variawa

Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros surprised with a quad win over leaders Alex Giroud and Pablo Copetti. Overall truck leader Sotnikov lost time early on, leaving Kamaz teammates Shibalov and Nikolaiev to fend off van der Brink’s Iveco at mid distance. Seth Quinterio led Red Bull teammate Christina Gutierrez and overall leader Francisco Contardo’s Can Am in the Lightweights and Austin Jones was ahead and into the overall Side by Side lead from Marek Goczal with overnight leader Rodrigo de Oliveira in trouble.

Monday’s 395 km 8th stage run across wildly changing terrain from Al Dawadimi to Wadi Ad Dawasir continues the epic two week 4,000 km race on a 6,500 km route across the Saudi Arabian Desert to Friday's finish in Jeddah.

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Colin-on-Cars - SA-built Toyotas 1-2-4-5 as South Africans star in Dakar Rally Day 6

Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel now lead a proudly South African Toyota Hilux Dakar 1-2 by over 50 minutes after another tough day in the Arabian dunes.

Argentine duo Orlando Terranova and Daniel Carreras' BRX Hunter won day 6 in the cars. It was a positive day for South African crews. Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century fourth and Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux seventh.

Brian Baragwanath

Gas Gas duo Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders led a truncated bike stage as Botswana  hero Ross Branch tumbled out of the race.

The cars and other four wheelers swapped their Thursday routes with the bikes and quads for Friday's 421 kilometre Dakar Day raid around Riayadh ahead Saturday’s well-earned rest day. It was not without those regular Dakar dramas. Despite many tracks to follow, the day-to-day results yo-yo continued as the first cars and bikes on the road once again suffered greatly while opening the way. 

First and second cars away Friday morning, Toyota Gazoo Hilux duo Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter fared well enough through the first sector. But they dropped well out of contention by the second waypoint to join third and fourth crews away, Luciano Alvarez and Araman Monelon’s Hilux and Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier’s Century CR6 well outside of the top 30.

Nasser Al Attiyah

Seventh away Friday morning, overall leaders Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Gazoo Hilux moved ahead by the 120 km waypoint. They were pursued by Terranova, Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s petrol-electric Audi and Baragwanath and Cremer’s CR6. Saudi home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr, and Variawa and Stassen’s Hiluxes were next. All of them had started outside the top 15.

The drama escalated later in the stage, when positions, and the lead chopped changed as crews struggled to find their way. By the time the dust had settled, Terranova had taken the day from Ekström, Al Rajhi and Baragwanath. Nani Roma and Alex Bravo's BRX Hunter popped up in fifth ahead of Bernhard ten Brink and Sébastien Delaunay’s Hilux, which pipped Variawa to sixth. Al Attiyah ended up tenth, but well ahead of his closest overall challenger, Al Rajhi, who moved to second, 6 seconds clear of Loeb.

South African factory Hilux crew, Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s ended a provisional 14th, but their day was made when their 5 hour penalty for bumping a biker was retracted on new evidence, catapulting them back up to fourth on Friday evening. Which means that there are four Toyota in the top five with Attiyah leading Al Rajhi, with Loeb's Hunter third ahead of de Villiers and Alvarez.

Shameer Variawa

of the other South Africans, Lategan and Cummings 30th. Thursday’s heroes Chris Visser and Rodney Burke’s ended 33rd, while Century teammates Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne were running in the top 30, Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren in the top 60. SA navigators Taye Perry was 35th and Ryan Bland 56th. Overall. Visser provisionally sat 14th, Variyawa 17th and Baragwanath 18th.

It was a similar scenario in the bikes, which did not start well for Thursday's top two. MotoGP hero Danilo Petrucci crashed his KTM and dropped out of the top 50. Even worse off, Ross Branch tumbled from his Yamaha and was forced to retire. Up front meantime, in spite of the many tracks to follow, the route challenged the riders who opened the special are having serious navigation problems after 100 km, so as with the cars, the order was shaken up early on

The motorcycle race was stopped at the second of the day’s planned 8 checkpoints as the track had become dangerous after being churned up by the cars ad trucks on Thursday. At which point Gas Gas duo, third man overall Sam Sunderland led overall leader Daniel Sanders and  second overall Mattias Walkner’s KTM. SA riders, Aron Mare was 26th, Charan Moore 28th, John Kelly 34th, Stuart Gregory 67th, Werner Kennedy 81st, Paulo Oliveira 96th and Walter Terblanche 97th. Mare is 16th overall, Cox 20th and Moore 38th.

Giniel de Villiers - back in the hunt

In the other Dakar classes, as ever in the trucks where overall leader Karginov led overall leader Sotnikov and Nikolaiev home in a Kamaz 1-2-3. Marek Goczal beat overall leader Rodrigo de Oliveira, and Sergei Kariyakin in the Side by Sides and Seth Quinterio and Christina Gutierrez led overall leader Francisco Contardo home in the  for UTV honours. And Alexandre Giroud and Russian Alexei Maksimov headed overall leader Pablo Copetti in the quads. 

78 of the 92 cars, 130 of the 144 motorcycles, 100 of the 117 lightweights and quads and 53 of 56 trucks that started 2022’s 44th Dakar Rally on New Years Day, reached the halfway point at Riyadh on Friday. Saturday is Dakar’s traditional rest day, before crews continue on their epic 4,000 km race on a 6,500 km route across the Saudi Arabian Desert to the finish in Jeddah on Friday 12 January. Sunday’s seventh stage is a 299 km race over the dunes to Al Dawadimi.

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Colin-on-Cars - SA champ Henk takes first car win, Branch second on bikes

It was a huge day for South African competitors on Dakar's Day 5 around Riyadh. Toyota Gazoo Hilux duo Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings finally delivered on their stage winning promise to bring their Toyota Gazoo Hilux home to a fine victory.

Henk Lategan

Botswana rider Ross Branch finished a fine second on two wheels, behind Italian MotoGP racer and Dakar rookie sensation Danilo Petrucci's KTM after first man home duo, Aussie Toby Price was booked three minutes for speeding .

Ross Branch

Action

There was however more drama before the action even started Thursday morning. The fourth car overall overnight, Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Gazoo Toyota Hilux was slapped with a monster five hour penalty after a second incident involving a motorcycle.

That not only saw the South African crew join a long list of race favourites running at the back overall following a litany of different issues, but it also drew widespread criticism of Dakar continuing to race cars and bikes on the same route.

By way of circumstance, while portions of the cars and bike routes have on occasion been separated for safety reasons, Thursday’s romp around Riyadh just happened to be the first ever Dakar stage where the motorcycles raced a completely different route to the cars.

Tough going

That considered, both the cars and bikes became tales of two races as the first machines to start found the going tough as they opened the road. Leaving those who started further back to fight it out for the day’s glory.

All of which played perfectly into Lategan and Cummings’s hands as they not only made good for the team’s overnight woes. They also finally broke their duck. Starting 16th, the triple South African Cross Country champions initially diced Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s petrol-electric Audi RS Q e-Tron before pulling away to win their first Dakar stage after leading on several occasions over the past two years.

Behind them, Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter bounced back after losing time up front early on. The WRC legend set a scorching pace later in the stage to leapfrog up from fourth to second in the final sector.

Sebastian Loeb

Third overall, ever-consistent Argentine privateers Luciano Alvarez and Araman Monelon’s Hilux led French crew Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier’s Century CR6 to a proudly South African third and fourth. Ahead of Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq’s Thunder buggy.

Disappointed

Another ever-present Dakar force Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk’s Mini was sixth from disappointed de Villiers and Murphy and overall leader Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Gazoo Hiluxes.

They kept a watching brief before turning on the taps later in the day to come home eighth and manage their overall gap to Loeb at 35 minutes. South African car crew Chris Visser and Rodney Burke continued to impress as they brought their Century CR6 home a stunning tenth and move up to take the top SA spot in 13th overall.

The other Audis had a tough day. Stéphane Peterhansel stopped to allow the stricken Carlos Sainz to rob his e-Tron of parts to continue. SA men, Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux ran well but but slimped to 22nd. Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century were fourth before dropping back to finish 25th.

Duo

Tenacious Century duo Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren were 59th at the time of writing, Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne 60th. And SA navigators Taye Perry sat 34th and Ryan Bland 48th.

Nasser Al Attiyah

As it was in the cars, the first bikes away struggled. While Pettrucci and Branch, who both started outside the top ten made good with tracks to follow. As did Honda men Jose Florimo and Ricky Brabec in third and fourth, rookie Mason Klein’s KTM, and Price, who wound up sixth after his penalty.

South African rookie Bradly Cox had a solid ride to 22nd. Ahead of Wednesday’s top three, Honda teammates Pablo Quintanilla and Juan Barreda and Paulo Goncalves’ Sherco.

SA riders, Aron Mare was 25th, Charan Moore 40th, John Kelly 66th, Werner Kennedy 79th, Walter Terblanche 86th, Stuart Gregory 93rd, and Paulo Oliveira 115th.

Overall

Overall on two wheels, Sam Sunderland provisionally maintains Gas Gas’ iron grip on the bike race, two minutes clear of KTM’s Mattias Walkner and six up on Adrien Beveren’s Yamaha. Ross Branch is up to eighth, 18 minutes off the lead, Mare is 18th, Cox 22nd and Moore 40th.

The other Dakar classes were still racing at the time of writing. Overall leader Rodrigo de Oliveira and Maykal Justo headed Sergei Kariyakin and Andre Vlasuik in the Side by Sides. Seth Quinterio and Denis Zenz Red Bull led Sebastian Eriksson and Wouter Rosegaar and overall leaders Francisco Contardo and Pablo Vinagre’s Can Ams in the UTVs and Alexandre Giroud led overall leader Pablo Copetti in the quads.

It was ops normal in the trucks where overall leader Sotnikov was ahead of Shabilov and Nikolaiev in a Kamaz 1-2-3.

409 crews comprising 244 motorcycles, 92 cars, 117 lightweights and quads and 56 trucks started 2022’s 44th Dakar Rally Saturday 1 January. They are racing 4,000 kilometres over a 6,500 km route across the Saudi Arabian Desert to the finish in Jeddah on Friday 12 January. Friday’s Day 6 will see competitors racing 402 km of another 618 km loop around Riyadh

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Colin-on-Cars - Al Attiyah & Barreda win again, but Petrucci, Visser star.

It was all about new heroes on Wednesday’s longest Dakar Rally ‘22 stage. Day 4 was a gruelling 465 kilometre race between Al Qaysumah and Riyadh.

Overall leaders, Nasser Al Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel’s Gazoo Hilux won after first car home, Saudi local hero Yazeed Al Rajhi and Michael Orr’s Hilux was penalised for speeding. Honda duo Juan Barreda and Pablo Quintanilla took bike honours.

Nasser Al-Attiyah

But the day will be remembered for rookie former MotoGP star Danillo Petrucci, and SA drivers Henk Lategan and Chris Visser’s efforts.

Driving

Wednesday started well for Toyota Gazoo Hilux duo Lategan and Brett Cummings. They bided their time early on, before driving off to a 2 minute lead over Al Attiyah and Al Rajhi’s similar machines. Alas, Lategan and Cummings' Hilux picked up a hub problem and they were forced to stop and wait for assistance. Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger once again joined the Toyota duo in an agonising wait. Their Audi suffered another suspension failure too.

Henk Lategan

That left Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz’ petrol-electric Audi RS Q e-Tron quattro fending off Al Rajhi and Al Attiyah. Nasser appeared to lose a little time to try help his stricken teammate Lategan.

Watching

Behind them, Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s BRX Hunter held a watching brief ahead of Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy’s Hilux, Mini duo, Yasir Seaidan and Alexey Kuzmich, and Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk, and French crew Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier’s SA-built Century CR6.

Giniel De Villiers

A concertina effect up front saw Al Attiyah close down on Al Rajhi, as both reeled Sainz in for an epic finish. The Toyotas passed the Audi with 50 km to race as Al Rajhi held Al Attiyah’s factory Gazoo machine off by just 14 seconds. Only for Al Rajhi to be demoted back to fourth. So, Al Attiyah took his 44th Dakar day win from Loeb, who powered ahead of Sainz and Al Rajhi, Seaidan de Villiers, Przygonski and Serradori. Overall, Al Attiyah opened his advantage to 38 minutes over Loeb, Al Rajhi and de Villiers two seconds behind.

Chris Visser

From a South African car point of view, besides Lategan’s efforts, the drive of the day had to be Chris Visser and Rodney Burke’s run in their Century CR6. Multiple SA champion and 4x4 expert Visser was drafted in to the rear-wheel drive buggy to replace Century boss Mark Corbett at the 12th hour. Having raced the Dakar in a bakkie in the South American years, Visser has been consistently inside the top 20 all week. But he and Burke were well within to top ten earlier in Wednesday's stage, before dropping back to 15th.

Better

At the time of writing, South African car crews Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century sat 19th and Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen’s Gazoo Hilux 22nd. Taye Perry reading notes for Cyril Despres’ Peugeot 3008 was 29th and Ryan Bland and Daniel Schroder’s WCT Red-Lined VK50 39th. It was a better day for Ernest Roberts and Henry Kohne, who were in 34th, and Schalk Burger and Henk Janse van Vuuren 45th. Both rewarded the Century team’s efforts to keep the cars going after they hit trouble earlier in the week.

Rally legend Schalk Burger, along with his co-driver Henk Janse van Vuuren in the King Price Xtreme Century Racing CR6 had a baptism by fire. On Stage 1, Burger and van Vuuren got stuck three times and missed two waypoints dramatically eating into their time. They had to drive the final 40 kilometres at night.

According to Burger, night driving in the desert is what horror movies are made of with them unable to see markers and finding it almost impossible to navigate. Fortunately, Stage 2 yielded better results with the team finishing the 338 kilometre special section before the sun went down.

And while the team wanted to pick up speed and focus on not getting stuck during the rain-shortened third stage, fate had other plans. Unfortunately, the engine overheated and broke down due to a refuelling mistake made by one of the crew members. Even though Schalk and Henk had to be towed in, they were still allowed to start today’s Stage 4 but required the crew to spend another long night to put in the spare engine.

Sadly, this did see Burger and van Vuuren fall to a 217th starting position. But as it has been seen by the first few stages, anything can change at any given moment.

Born

Dakar heroes are not often born. They are made. And if there ever was a case for a new Dakar hero being made, that was today in the bikes. Italian MotoGP refugee Danilo Petrucci put on a show that not many a MotoGP nor Dakar fan will ever forget. Former MotoGP winner Petrux had thought his Dakar was over on Monday when he lost his cell phone in the stage and could not contact his team after hitting trouble.

Danilo Petrucci

Still, the Italian sorted the issue and took a huge penalty and returned on Tuesday. He must have had his Jungle Oats Wednesday, as he shot into a stunning lead, which he held on to for 150 km on his KTM. He eventually lost the lead to Juan Barreda Bort, who took his second stage of the race from Honda teammate Pablo Quintanilla, with Petrucci a splendid third. Sherco teammates Paulo Goncalves and Lorenzo Santolino were fourth and fifth from Luciano Benavides’ Husqvarna and overall leader Sam Sunderland’s Gas Gas.

Botswana's Ross Branch was the best of Southern African bikers in 15th for Yamaha, with SA rookie Bradley Cox’s KTM once again impressing in 18th, with Aaron Mare provisionally 23rd. Behind them, Charan Moore was 47th, John Kelly 62nd, Stuart Gregory 74th, Terblanche 91st, Werner Kennedy 104th and Paulo Oliveira 120th. Overall on two wheels, Sam Sunderland still leads KTM’s Mattias Walkner and Adrien Beveren’s Yamaha, with Branch 11th, Mare 12th, Cox 23rd and Moore 40th.

Surprise

Marek Goczal and Lukasz Lakaswiek led Rodrigo de Oliveira and Maykal Justo, and Austin Jones and Gustavo Gugelmin in the Side by Sides. Seth Quinterio and Denis Zenz Red Bull led overall leaders, Francisco Contardo and Pablo Vinagre and Sebastian Eriksson and Wouter Rosegaar’s Can Ams in the UTVs. Russian Aleksandr Maksimov caused another quad surprise when he put one over Manuel Andujar and overall leaders Pablo Copetti and Alexandre Giroud. And Kamaz duo Nikolaievv and Shabilov let van Kasteren’s Iveco in the trucks.

Thursday’s 365 km loop around Riyaad starts on rocky tracks before more dunes later in the day.

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