The road to Al Duwadimi, which contained the first dune fields of the 46th Dakar Rally, set the riders and crews on a course to the geographical heart of Saudi Arabia.
The 462km stretch saw Stéphane Peterhansel bounce back from his 32-minute loss on Saturday to claim his 50th stage win and put himself back in contention.
Meanwhile, Sébastien Loeb started the day 23 minutes behind Guillaume de Mevius, but his finish within 29 seconds of Peterhansel catapulted him to 4 minutes, 47 seconds behind Carlos Sainz.
Experience carried the day, with Nasser Al Attiyah, also on the back foot yesterday, moving into more familiar reaches in seventh. The top 10 of the Ultimate class in Al Duwadimi features all the favorites, including the rising stars that shone yesterday, Seth Quintero (fourth) and de Mevius (fifth).
Other Notes
• While Ross Branch managed to cling on to the overall lead in motorbike competition, the other standout performer of yesterday’s event endured trouble. Mason Klein ran into mechanical trouble at the 46th kilometer. It forced the American to screech to a halt and spend two hours repairing his mount.
His podium ambitions are all but lost, but he remains in the race.
• Starting in third place, Nacho Cornejo soon linked up with Ricky Brabec and Ross Branch to form a well-oiled machine in the motorbike category that crossed the finish line together and snagged the time bonuses at stake. The Chilean’s seventh Dakar stage win propelled him to within 2 minutes, 55 seconds of the Botswanan leader as the highest-ranked of the three Hondas near Branch.
• The hierarchy is also starting to emerge in the challenger class, where the Goczał family’s three Taurus cars flexed their muscles. Eryk, still undefeated and still only 19, secured a new triumph and leads a Goczał whitewash on the provisional podium.
• Can-Am is back on top of the SSV race thanks to Gerard Farrés, who clinched the stage ahead of Xavier de Soultrait and is the new master of the overall, and the Portuguese João Ferreira, who came in third.
Janus van Kasteren is still in control of the truck competition, but Aleš Loprais gave him a proper scare today by finishing within six seconds of the Dutchman.