Dakar Stage 4 Highlights: Peterhansel wins while Sainz's lead shrinks

Stage 4 of the 2020 Dakar Rally Saw the most successful driver in race history collect his 77th stage win while the overall race leader saw his advantage over second place get cut in half.

Here are some of today’s highlights:

In the cars class, 13-time winner Stephane Peterhansel won his first stage in this year’s running, overcoming a flat tire and a wrong turn to hold off defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah by 2:26. The victory moved Peterhansel up to third place in the overall standings.

Al-Attiyah was able to shrink his deficit to overall leader Carlos Sainz to just over three minutes. Saniz finished the stage third overall, 7:18 behind Peterhansel.

Former Formula One champion Fernando Alonso finished 13th overall, 26:21 behind Peterhansel. Alonso is now ranked 20th in the overall standings, nearly three hours behind Sainz.

Overall: Carlos Sainz holds an advantage of 3:03 over Nasser Al-Attiyah.

In bikes, Jose Ignacio Cornejo was declared the winner of the stage after Sam Sunderland, who came in 0:11 ahead, was assessed a five-minute penalty for speeding. Sunderland dropped down to eighth following the penalty.

Ignacio Cornejo’s teammate Kevin Benavides finished second, while Ross Branch finished third.

Overall: Ricky Brabec holds an advantage of 2:30 over Kevin Benavides.

In side by sides, Dakar rookie Mitch Guthrie took his maiden stage victory, with Aron Domzala finishing 0:19 behind. Fellow American rookie Austin Jones finished third, 1:14 behind.

Jose Antonio Hinojo Lopez finished fifth, and now leads the overall standings, jumping ahead of Francisco Lopez Contardo and Casey Currie. Lopez Contrado and Currie finished sixth and seventh, respectfully.

Overall: Jose Antonio Hinojo Lopez holds an advantage of 3:01 over Francisco Lopez Contrado.

In quads, Ignacio Casale won once again, finishing ahead of Giovanni Enrico by 1:24. Simon Viste finished third, 3:22 behind.

Overall: Ignacio Casale holds an advantage of 21:03 over Giovanni Enrico.

In trucks, Anton Shibalov won for the second time in the first four stages, finishing ahead of teammate Andrey Karginov by 2:41. Dmitry Sotnikov made it a Kamaz 1-2-3 by finishing 9:05 behind Shibalov.

Overall: Andrey Karginov holds an advantage of 10:43 over Siarhei Viazovich.

Stage Wins:

Cars: [1] Vaidotas Zala (Stage 1), [1] Giniel De Villiers (Stage 2), [1] Carlos Sainz (Stage 3) and [1] Stephane Peterhansel (Stage 4)

Bikes: [1] Toby Price (Stage 1), [1] Ross Branch (Stage 2), [1] Ricky Brabec (Stage 3) and [1] Jose Ingacio Cornejo (Stage 4)

Side-by-sides: [1] Aron Domzala (Stage 1), [1] Francisco Lopez Contardo (Stage 2), [1] Gerard Farres Guell (Stage 3), and [1] Mitchell Guthrie (Stage 4)

Quads: [3] Ignacio Casale (Stage 1, 2, and 4) and [1] Giovanni Enrico (Stage 3)

Trucks: [2] Anton Shibalov (Stage 1 and 4), [1] Siarhei Viazovich (Stage 2) and [1] Andrey Karginov (Stage 3)

Highlights of Stage 4 will air on NBCSN this evening at 6:00 p.m. ET. The rally runs through Jan. 17.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Dakar Stage 4 Highlights: Peterhansel wins while Sainz’s lead shrinks

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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