Stage 2 of the Dakar Rally featured close finishes in the car and motorcycle classes.
Sebastien Loeb won the second stage on the Peruvian dunes – the site of last year’s accident.
Here are some of the highlights:
In the cars class, Sebastien Loeb, finished eight seconds ahead of Nani Roma. Third-place Bernhard Ten Brinke was 1:20 behind. … Giniel de Villiers was the biggest gainer of the stage. Finishing fourth, he grabbed the overall lead. … Recovering from a neck injury sustained in 2016, Harry Hunt has returned to the Rally to finish ninth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. … Nasser Al-Attiyah finished 11th in the stage and fell to eight overall after losing more than seven minutes in Stage 2. … Orlando Terranova was transported to the hospital with back pain after a hard landing in the dunes. … Robby Gordon finished 25th in the stage and is 24th overall.
“For us it was not an easy stage,” Stephane Peterhansel said on Dakar.com, after finishing 17th. “We started with some electrical problems inside the car: no microphones, no air-conditioning, no wipers, nothing was ok. I lost my concentration a little bit and after I got stuck in a really bad place. We are happy because Cyril (Despres) stopped for us and pulled us out. In the end we have lost a lot of time, but without the help of Cyril I think we would probably still be in the same place, so it’s ok.”
Overall: Giniel de Villiers holds an advantage of 0:28 over Ten Brinke and 0:42 over Roma.
In motorcycles, Matthias Walkner edged Ricky Brabec at the end of the stage in the last few kilometers. He crossed into the staging area just 22 seconds ahead of his American rival. This was his fourth career stage win. … Joan Barreda finished third, but holds onto the overall lead. … Andrew Short finished ninth in the stage and is 10th overall.
Overall: Barreda holds an advantage of 1:31 over Walkner and 1:33 over Brabec.
In side by sides it was another narrow victory, this time for Francisco Lopez Contardo over Reinaldo Varela by a margin of only 19 seconds. … Sergei Kariakin finished third (1:51 behind). Casey Currie had navigation issues that relegated him to 16th in the stage – losing 45 minutes to the overall.
Overall: Varella holds an advantage of 1:08 over Contardo and 6:35 over Kariakin
In quads, Nicolas Caviglisasso crushed the stage with an advantage of 11:18 over Gustavo Gallego. … Alexandre Giroud finished third, which is where he also sits in the overall standings.
Overall: Cavigliasso holds an advantage of 21:14 over Gallego and 30:02 over Giroud.
In trucks, Eduard Nikolaev scored his second consecutive stage win to beat Gerard de Rooy by 2:39. Dmitry Sotnikov finished third. … Martin Van Den Brink wrecked during the stage.
Overall: Nokolaev holds an advantage of 4:23 over De Rooy and 7:23 over Federico Villagra.
Stage Wins
Motorcycles: (1) Joan Barreda (Stage 1) and (1) Matthias Walkner, Stage 2
Quads: (2) Nicolas Cavigliasso (Stage 1 and Stage 2)
Cars: (1) Nasser Al-Attiyah (Stage 1) and (1) Sebastien Loeb (Stage 2)
Side-by-sides: (1) Reinaldo Varela (Stage 1) and (1) Francisco Lopez Contardo (Stage 2)
Trucks: (2) Eduard Nikolaev (Stage 1 and Stage 2)
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