Dunes and fog are not a good mix when the riders have to start a special on the Dakar.
This morning, the Empty Quarter was full of dense mist, preventing the helicopters from taking off and ensuring the race’s safety. The delay of the start to the special while waiting for the skies to clear also incited the bikers to request that the stage be shortened, which it was, with the finishing line after 152 kilometres instead of 308, as initially planned.
The change was particularly advantageous for Daniel Sanders, an amateur beekeeper, who was in a very favourable position ahead of the final stage. The original distance of 276 kilometres, mainly made up of dunes interspersed with very fast chotts, was maintained for the top cars.
On a special whose length was reduced by half, Tosha Schareina knuckled down and managed to make up 7’31’’ of the 16 minutes and 31 seconds separating him at the start of the day from Daniel Sanders, once the dunes were finally warmed by the sun. The Spaniard reinforced his second place but will have limited possibilities of dethroning the leader on the 61-km final stage, which includes a grouped start.
Adrien Van Beveren had more than one reason to open the throttle in the desert. In the end, it all came to nothing in the quest to take 2nd place from the speedy Spaniard, who achieved the day’s best time. However, he still had to stay off the brakes in order to keep hold of his third place in the general rankings, which was under threat from Luciano Benavides. The man in form on the rally’s second week indeed finished in front of the Frenchman by 24’’, but stays in 4th place in the general rankings, 6’26’’ off the third step on the podium.