Stage report
Dakar Dakar
Dakar 2021, Stage 9: Peterhansel wins as rivals hit trouble
Stephane Peterhansel extended his lead in the 2021 Dakar Rally with a dominant victory in Stage 9, as Nasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz both hit trouble.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Jan 12, 2021, 5:00 PM
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What had been a six-minute gap between Peterhansel and Al-Attiyah was nearly tripled as the X-raid Mini driver secured his first stage win of 2021, boosting his chances of securing a record-extending 14th Dakar title.
While Peterhansel was at his usual best, consistently running at the front, Toyota driver Al-Attiyah lost a heap of time with two punctures and navigation troubles on a day that could prove crucial to the outcome of the rally. He was still fortunate to finish second in the stage, but now sits nearly 18 minutes down on the French driver in the overall standings.
Reigning champion Sainz too endured a difficult day, losing over 22 minutes after stopping to fix a brake problem on his Mini buggy.
Giniel de Villiers enjoyed his best result since winning Stage 5, finishing just 19 seconds behind his teammate Al-Attiyah in third.
Yazeed Al Rajhi was just another 25s adrift in the leading Overdrive entry, while Brian Baragwanath put the Century marque back inside the top 10 after a difficult marathon stage, finishing 13m51s down on Peterhansel in fifth.
Ford privateer Martin Prokop finished sixth ahead of the PH Sport Peugeots of Cyril Despres and Khalid Al Qassimi, while Toyota privateer Benediktas Vanagas and 2014 winner Nani Roma rounded out the top 10.
Roma is now the sole surviving Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver after teammate and nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb retired from the event on Monday’s Stage 8.
With just three stages to run, Peterhansel sits well clear of Al-Attiyah at the top of the table, with Sainz now an hour down on his teammate and likely out of the fight for victory.
Jakub Przygonski and Roma remain fourth and fifth respectively, while Al Qassimi has jumped Vladimir Vasilyev for sixth. De Villiers remains ninth, but is only four minutes behind Prokop, with Optimus driver Christian Lavieille 10th.
Standings after Stage 9 (Top 10 only):
Pos.
Driver
Car
Time/Gap
1
Stephane Peterhansel
Mini
34hr26m16s
2
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Toyota
17m50s
3
Carlos Sainz
Mini
1hr02m25s
4
Jakub Przygonski
Toyota
2hr16m30s
5
Nani Roma
Prodrive
2hr42m38s
6
Khalid Al Qassimi
Peugeot
3hr01m13s
7
Vladimir Vasilyev
Peugeot
3hr10m17s
8
Martin Prokop
Ford
3hr36m01s
9
Giniel de Villiers
Toyota
3hr40m09s
10
Christian Lavieille
Optimus
4hr10m32s
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