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→
Team X-raid GmbH’s Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret produced another sensational performance to take the second fastest time on the fourth special stage of the 2010 Dakar Rally between Fiambalá in Argentina and Copiapó in Chile on Tuesday. The French duo missed out on a second successive stage win by a mere one second in their BMW X3CC, despite being the first crew into the Atacama desert stage this afternoon. They slipped behind Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah for several kilometers in terms of virtual stage timing, but a late charge by the Frenchman extended his overall lead to 7m 36s, as American Robbie Gordon pinched the stage victory. “This was a superb performance by Stéphane after starting first on the road,” said a delighted team director Sven Quandt. Guerlain Chicherit and Tina Thõrner began the day in 11th overall and fifth on the road in a second BMW X3 CC. They were delayed early in the special and eventually set the 11th fastest time to maintain a similar position in the overall standings. Read More→
After a successful beginning in Argentina, Volkswagen has proved the qualities of the Race Touareg on the first Chilean leg of the 2010 Dakar Rally as well. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) achieved third place at the demanding crossing of the Andes on the fourth leg from Fiambalá to Copiapó with a gap of 2m 26s behind the stage winners Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA) in the Hummer and Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F) from the X-raid team. Read More→
