Walkner, who suffered abrasions and bruises as well as a splintered bone in his wrist following a fall at more than 100 km/h in the second leg on Monday, finished 12:30 minutes behind the Spanish winner of the day, Joan Barreda Bort (Monster Energy). The former winner is already 28:25 minutes behind Australian Daniel Sanders, who is still the leader in the overall standings.
“Last night my hand swelled up once more and was very painful this morning. I assumed that the dunes would help my injured hand, but following the first five kilometers I realized that exactly the opposite was the case. With those thousands of compressions that come on my hand during a stage, it was even worse than the rocky terrain of yesterday’s stage. It wasn’t fun today,” said the man from Salzburg regarding the fourth stage.
Barreda Bort completed the 425 kilometers of the classification the fastest on his Honda
“The hand hurts extremely”
So Walkner is toying with the idea of dropping out of the race. “The hand hurts extremely. I’m not sure if the whole thing still makes sense. I fight with blunt weapons and don’t say a word regarding victory. At the moment it’s just a struggle and an attempt to get to the finish well,” said the 2018 Dakar winner, explaining his thoughts. “It’s still ten long days and I’m not sure I’m going to just ruin myself and my hand in the process.”
In view of the deficit, there is no long-term damage, so Walkner with a view to the ranking. “To have anywhere near a chance of winning with this strong field, I have to be 100 percent fit, and I’m definitely not. What I’m doing here is sometimes very borderline and dangerous,” said the 36-year-old. How dangerous the Dakar Rally is was already evident in the first stage, when defending champion Sam Sunderland from England fell badly and was unable to continue the race.
Dakar Rally 2023
Motorcycles, fourth stage
Ha’il – Ha’il (SP 425 km):
1.
Joan Barreda Bort
ESP
Honda
4:28:16
2.
Paul Quintanilla
CHI
Honda
0:16
3.
Skyler Howes
USA
The House Quarna
1:05
4.
Toby Price
OUT
KTM
2:24
5.
Adrian VanBeveren
FROM
Honda
2:37
6.
Luciano Benavides
ARG
KTM
3:19
8.
Daniel Sanders
OUT
rubbing
6:07 *
11.
Matthias Walkner
AUT
KTM
12:30
* Two minute time penalty
Rating motorcycles:
1.
Daniel Sanders
OUT
rubbing
18:40:03
2.
Skyler Howes
USA
The House Quarna
+ 3:33
3.
Kevin Benavides
ARG
KTM
4:05
4.
Joan Barreda Bort
ESP
Honda
4:30
5.
Toby Price
USA
KTM
7:17
6.
Mason Klein
USA
KTM
10:05
10.
Matthias Walkner
AUT
KTM
28:25
Status following four of 14 stages
Cars, fourth stage
Ha’il – Ha’il (SP 425 km):
1.
Sebastien Loeb
FROM
Penetrate
4:11:34
2.
Stephane Peterhansel
FROM
Audi
+ 0:13
3.
Carlos Sainz
ESP
Audi
1:50
4.
Nasser al-Attijah
KAT
Toyota
2:06
5.
Jasid al-Radschhi
KSA
Toyota
7:04
6.
Henk Lategan
RSA
Toyota
7:23
Rating cars:
1.
Nasser al-Attijah
KAT
Toyota
16:34:13
2.
Jasid al-Radschhi
KSA
Toyota
+ 18:18
3.
Stephane Peterhansel
FROM
Audi
18:52
4.
Carlos Sainz
ESP
Audi
32:55
5.
Henk Lategan
RSA
Toyota
45:25
6.
Lucas Moraes
BRA
Toyota
45:27
Status following four of 14 stages
Stage plan Dakar Rallye 2023
31.12.
Prolog
Yanbu Sea Camp
01.01.
1st stage
Yanbu Sea Camp – Yanbu Sea Camp
02.01.
2. Stage
Yanbu Sea Camp – al-Ula
03.01.
3. Stage
al-Ula – Ha’il
04.01.
4th stage
Ha’il – Ha’il
05.01.
5th Stage
Ha’il – Ha’il
06.01.
6. Stage
Ha’il – al-Dawadimi
07.01.
7th Stage
al-Dawadimi – al-Dawadimi
08.01.
8. Stage
al-Dawadimi – Riyadh
09.01.
rest day
10.01.
9. Stage
Riad – Harad
11.01.
10. Stage
Harad – Shaiba
12.01.
11. Stage
Schaiba – Empty Quarter
13.01.
12. Stage
Empty Quarter – Schaiba
14.01.
13. Stage
Schaiba-al-Hofuf
15.01.
14. Stage
al-Hofuf – Dammam
Total length: 8,549 km (including 4,706 km special stage)
