Twelfth Night has been bittersweet in the Dakar. The dynamics change in a matter of minutes and those who had seen the victory in the last stages have lost precious time for the general. In a desert that seems to have woken up for this fifth day, there is a pilot that every stage never ceases to amaze.
Carlos Sainz falls once more in the standings
After some exceptional days, Carlos Sainz, together with his Catalan co-driver, Lucas Cruz, did not have a gift for the day of the Three Kings. Quite the opposite. The hybrid Audi driven by the Madrid man has suffered his first mechanical setback by breaking the shock absorbers. Peterhansel, his teammate and who suffered the same mechanical problem yesterday, has helped him replace the part and both have been able to resume the march, but with an hour lost. The overall standings are led by Al-Attiyah with 35 minutes ahead of Loeb and 51 minutes behind Luciano Álvarez. Sainz drops to twentieth place at 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Petrucci, on the rise
The performance of the former MotoGP rider is being amazing in his Dakar debut. The adventure that began with a false positive and breaking the bike in the early stages, has been completely reversed thanks to the tenacity and vitality of the Italian rider. After he smiled once more in the third stage, his evolution is being meteoric. In the fifth stage, Petrucci climbed to the top of the motorcycle category and became the first MotoGP rider to win a stage of the toughest race in the world.
The motorcycle general is led by Sam Sundeland (GasGas) with a two-minute lead over his pursuer Matthias Walkenr (Red Bull KTM).
Sandstorm that stops everything
The desert has made its mark in this fifth stage of the Dakar. Due to a sandstorm, the Dakar Classic and motorcycle races might not be completed for safety reasons. “Given the high demand for medical aircraft dedicated to the motorcycle race and the Dakar Classic, the race management has decided, shortly following noon, to stop the stage in both categories to ensure the safety of competitors. cars, which is developed in a different sector with independent air forces, has not been affected, “the organization said in a statement.
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