This year’s Dakar is proving even more punishing than the 39 that have come before it.
As the 40th running of the marathon rally crossed from Peru into Bolivia on its sixth day, Peugeot continued to dominate – although even two of its 3008 DKR Maxis are out of the running.
Australia’s 2016 motorcycle champion in the Dakar, Toby Price, has moved to within 10 minutes of the lead in the two-wheeled category and now lies in sixth place after six stages.
The field is now in high-altitude Bolivia after the early days on sand dunes described by Toyota driver Giniel de Villiers as “insanely soft”.
Price was equal second with KTM teammate Antoine Meo of France on the latest stage, while Honda rider Kevin Benavides from Argentina now holds the overall lead.
Last year’s two-wheel victor for KTM, Briton Sam Sunderland, crashed out midweek, injuring his back.
The other two Australian motorcyclists are battling on – Rodney Faggotter is 18th on a factory Yamaha and Dakar rookie Scott Britnell is a lot further back on his privateer KTM.
In the cars, the X-raid MINI squad was decimated early, with its main hopes – Finnish ex-World Rally Championship star Mikko Hirvonen and Spanish two-time Dakar winner Nani Roma – out on day three.
Toyota is hanging in with its new South African-built V8 HiLuxes driven by Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and de Villiers, but they are a long way off the pace of the leading Peugeots.
Bernhard Ten Brinke of the Netherlands has been impressive in another, older Toyota, setting the second fastest time on the fifth stage to move into third overall ahead of the higher-profile pair representing the Japanese brand.
While Spaniard Carlos Sainz – a two-time WRC champion and a Dakar victor – has come on strong the past couple of days, it’s his masterful French teammate Stephane Peterhansel who leads yet again, seemingly headed for his eighth Dakar success on four wheels – after six on two wheels.
However, the hopes of France’s nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb ever winning the Dakar appear over after he was forced out on day four, while Peugeot’s fourth driver Cyril Depres lost so much time early in the week after winning a stage that he’s out of contention this year.
Peugeot is pulling out of the Dakar, perhaps to return to sports car racing, after this year’s event ends at Cordoba in Argentina on January 20 – a move seen as denying Loeb the chance to win the toughest race on earth.
After coming within about five minutes of beating Peterhansel last year, Loeb was shattered to have to retire in the first week this time – and with his long-time co-driver Daniel Elena in severe pain with a back injury the day after they had won a stage.
“The sand was very loose, the car just wouldn’t climb up the dunes [on day four], and we got stuck more or less straight away for 20 minutes or so,” Loeb said.
“Then when we got going again, we were able to follow the tracks from everyone else, and that helped a lot.
“We got to a place where there was another competitor stopped on a crest. In order not to have to stop while we were climbing, I went right to avoid him ... but there was a hole just over the crest that we hadn’t seen.
“We hit it hard. There was nothing more we could do but wait for the truck to pull us out [losing two hours]. Daniel was in a lot of pain from the impact.
“We finished the stage really slowly, in order not to make the pain worse, but – given Daniel’s injury – we were left with no option but to retire.”