Carlos Sainz, the 2010 Dakar winner and part of Peugeot’s return effort, has retired from the event following a crash in Thursday’s Stage 5 from Copiapo to Antofagasta, Chile.
The @PeugeotSport Twitter account confirmed the news:
Carlos Sainz & Lucas Cruz retired but both ok. Following a quad in dust, they hit something & rolled 5 times. More information later #Dakar
The trail of parts near the car itself tells the story.
Sainz’s retirement comes one day after he suffered turbo pressure problems on his 2008 DKR Dakar machine early on in Wednesday’s Stage 4.
That cost him more than nine hours; an AFP report says he didn’t get back to the bivouac until 3:30 a.m. local time this morning.
It now appears that it’ll be up to 11-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel to fly the flag for Peugeot, which is back at the Dakar this year after a 25-year absence.
Peterhansel finished fifth in Thursday’s stage and has moved into the Top-10 of the overall rankings.
The third Peugeot man, multi-time Dakar motorcycle winner and car class rookie Cyril Despres, has had problems in his last two stages.
On Wednesday, he lost four hours to a clutch problem on his DKR, and Thursday saw him suffer a broken wheel according to the team. As of the time of this post, he has yet to finish.
NBCSN’s coverage of the Dakar Rally continues Friday at 4 p.m. ET.
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
