Heavy wind gusts may have shortened the Haradh - Shubaytah stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally, but there still was plenty of action, including a wild double rollover by Fernando Alonso.
Here are some of Wednesday’s highlights:
In the cars class, Carlos Sainz was able to rebuild his commanding lead over Nasser Al-Attiyah, which was shortened to a mere 0:24 at the end of Tuesday’s Stage 9.
Al-Attiyah became lost when trying to find the final checkpoint, surrendering nearly 15 minutes. The defending Dakar champion finished the stage in 17th place.
Jakub Przygonski ended the shortened stage second-fastest, 3:05 behind, while Giniel De Villers finished third, 4:26 back.
Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso finished a disappointing 56th after suffering a double rollover just two kilometers into the stage.
Though not injured in the rollover, Alonso lost a significant amount of time as he and co-driver Marc Coma removed the windscreen from their Toyota.
The duo rolled across the finish line over an hour behind Sainz, and now have dropped from 10th to 14th in the overall standings.
Overall: Carlos Sainz holds an advantage of 18:10 over Nasser Al-Attiyah.
In bikes, Joan Barreda Bort was gifted with the victory when the stage ended prematurely at the 345 km mark due to heavy winds. Meanwhile, overall leader Ricky Brabec finished the stage in second position, 1:07 back, while Kevin Benavides finished third, 2:31 back.
Overall: Ricky Brabec holds an advantage of 25:44 over Pablo Quintanilla.
In side by sides, Mitch Guthrie and Blade Hildebrand finished 1-2 for the second consecutive stage, with Hildebrand coming in 0:25 behind Guthrie. Stage 3 and 6 winner Gerard Farres Guell completed the podium in third, 1:22 back.
Casey Currie came home in seventh position, but continued to build a considerable lead in the overall standings. However, defending champion Francisco Lopez Contardo dropped from second to third overall when he suffered tire puncture that saw him lose over an hour’s time.
Overall: Casey Currie holds an advantage of 46:40 over Sergei Kariakin.
In quads, Kamil Wisinewski topped the charts, finishing 0:48 ahead of Zdenek Tuma, while Rafal Sonik finished 3:42 behind in third.
Overall leader Ignacio Casale had a disappointing day, finishing 16th out of 18 competitors. As a result, his lead over second place shrank by over 25 minutes.
Fortunately for Casale, second-place Simon Viste had a bad day as well, as the Frenchman finished 12th.
Overall: Ignacio Casale holds an advantage of 16:18 over Simon Viste.
In trucks, Anton Shibalov ended Kamaz teammate Andrey Karginov’s streak of four consecutive stage wins, outpacing Dmitry Sotnikov by 1:08 to the 223 km checkpoint.
However, Shibalov’s efforts were only enough to erase approximately two minutes from Karginov’s considerable lead in the overall standings.
Eduard Nikolaev finished third, 1:30 back.
Overall: Andrey Karginov holds an advantage of 36:08 over Anton Shibalov.
Stage Wins:
Cars: [4] Carlos Sainz (Stage 3, 5, 7 and 10), [3] Stephane Peterhansel (Stage 4, 6 and 9), [1] Vaidotas Zala (Stage 1), [1] Giniel De Villiers (Stage 2) and [1] Mathieu Serradori (Stage 8)
Bikes: [2] Toby Price (Stage 1 and 5), [2] Ricky Brabec (Stage 3 and 6), [1] Ross Branch (Stage 2), [1] Jose Ingacio Cornejo (Stage 4), [1] Kevin Benavides (Stage 7), [1] Pablo Quintanilla (Stage 9) and [1] Joan Barreda Bort (Stage 10)
Side-by-sides: [2] Gerard Farres Guell (Stage 3 and 6), [2] Blade Hildebrand (Stage 7 and 9), [2] Mitch Guthrie (Stage 4 and 10), [1] Francisco Lopez Contardo (Stage 2), [1] Aron Domzala (Stage 1), [1] Cyril Despres (Stage 5) and [1] Reinaldo Varela (Stage 8)
Quads: [4] Ignacio Casale (Stage 1, 2, 4 and 9), [2] Simon Viste (Stage 6 and 7), [1] Giovanni Enrico (Stage 3), [1] Romain Dutu (Stage 5) and [1] Kamil Wisinewski (Stage 10)
Trucks: [5] Andrey Karginov (Stage 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9), [3] Anton Shibalov (Stage 1, 4 and 10), [1] Siarhei Viazovich (Stage 2) and [1] Dmitry Sotnikov (Stage 5)
Highlights of Stage 10 will air on NBCSN tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. The rally runs through Friday.