Team X-raid GmbH’s Guerlain Chicherit and Stéphane Peterhansel moved up to an unofficial fourth and fifth in the overall standings after the longest stage of the entire 2010 Dakar Rally, a 600km special between Iquique and Antofagasta in Chile, on Friday. Former leader Peterhansel and Chicherit set the second and fifth fastest times on the varied special and benefited from delays for Carlos Sousa, Krzysztof Holowczyc and Robbie Gordon to move up the leader board heading into Saturday’s rest day at Antofagasta. It was a second successive superb performance by Peterhansel after he had lost two hours on stage five with transmission problems. Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy and German co-driver Andreas Schulz were delayed after the 355km point in the third BMW X3 CC. They were running seventh on the stage through the 509km point and heading towards the finish in Antofagasta and on course to remain well inside the top 10. Read More→
After seven of the 14 legs of the 2010 Dakar Rally Volkswagen maintains a commanding advantage: Three Race Touareg cars with TDI power are running in front in the overall standings before the rest day. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading the world’s toughest rally with 11m 03s ahead of their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and 22m 06s in front of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Nasser Al-Attiyah managed an outstanding feat on the seventh leg: From Iquique to Antofagasta in the Chilean Atacama desert the Volkswagen factory driver from Qatar commandingly won Read More→
Team X-raid GmbH’s Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret bounced back from their fifth stage disappointment to claim outright victory and eighth overall on the 418km special stage of the Dakar Rally between Antofagasta and Iquique in Chile on Thursday. The Frenchman’s 20th Dakar stage victory in a car (53rd in total) capped an excellent day in the Atacama desert for the Trebur-based team of three surviving BMW X3 CCs. Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy and German co-driver Andreas Schulz set the fifth fastest time to move up from 14th to 10th overall. Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit and Swedish co-driver Tina Thõrner Read More→
Volkswagen continues leading the 2010 Dakar Rally after the sixth of 14 stages with three Race Touareg cars. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (E/E), who had taken the lead the day before, extended their advantage in the Race Touareg from 4m 37s to 15m 24s. Their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) continue ranking as the overall runners-up ahead of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) in another Race Touareg. Almost up to the finish of the 418-kilometer stage from Antofagasta to Iquique in Chile’s Atacama Read More→
The biggest loser of stage 5 yesterday, in which he lost almost two hours because of a broken driveshaft, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (BMW) is pretty intent on finding solace in adding up stage victories in this Dakar. After starting at infernal speed this morning, the driver from Vesoul never looked back, regained part of his delay on the track and achieved the best stage time. Pending validation by the race marshals he is the winner of today’s stage with a superb performance. One can only imagine how his standing would be today without yesterdays flaw…. Following at today’s stage are the 3 race touareg in the order Carlos Sainz, Mark Miller and Nasser Al-Attiyah. The overall standings now: Sainz followed with 15′24″ behind Nasser Al-Attiya and Mark Miller in third.
Volkswagen trio in front: Miller with stage win, Sainz takes lead. Volkswagen took the lead on the so far longest and toughest special stage of the Dakar Rally: As many as three Race Touareg vehicles are setting the pace at the front of the field after five days, both in the stage and overall classifications. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading the cross-country classic with an advantage of 4m 37s. Runners-up are their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), followed with a gap of 9m 39s by Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) who celebrated their first ever stage win at the Dakar Rally. Consequently, the first five days of the closely fought rally through Argentina and Chile have seen five different winners. Read More→
Team X-raid GmbH’s Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret endured a disappointing fifth stage of the 2010 Dakar Rally between Copiapó and Antofagasta in Chile on Wednesday.
The French duo began the day with a 7m 36s advantage in the general classification in their BMW X3 CC, but were forced to stop on two occasions during the stage with a broken drive shaft and the dream of winning the Dakar together for a fourth time was over. Stéphane had dropped two hours and four minutes to the leading driver after 339km of the stage and was struggling to the stage finish in two-wheel drive as the leading crews arrived in Antofagasta on Wednesday afternoon. The special stage win fell to American Mark Miller, but Spaniard Carlos Sainz now holds a 4m 37s outright lead for the first time. Read More→
