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According to Vanags, the cautious ride has ended in Dakar this year – it’s time to hit the gas pedal harder. According to the racer, there were a lot of stones on the track again, as well as there were also no sections where both the drivers and co-drivers had to demonstrate all their skills, the team report says.
“We kept up a good pace, only in the last quarter of the speed section did we make some navigation errors that could have cost us 10 minutes. Anyway, the day was good, we chose the correct tire pressure, so we didn’t hit a single wheel hard, ”said the athlete.
The Toyota Hilux crew leaned slightly uphill in one lap, but avoided more serious injuries. There was also an unexpected problem: the stop for natural affairs was planned at the crossing, but it was not 200, as I thought, but only 370 kilometers from the start.
“Oh, you can’t imagine how bad it was, the best motivation to get over that stage as soon as possible. One of the worst events of my life,” said the runner.
B. Vanagas admitted that in the fight for every minute, even small deviations on the track when driving the wrong way affect the bottom line. The crew will continue to work to improve it in the remaining three days of this year in Dakar.
Recognition is over
The leader of the motorsports classification, Stephane Peterhansel, had not won a single stage in this year’s Dakar until Tuesday. The clever strategy allowed the Frenchman to retain the top position, but on the second day of the marathon, Toyota Gazoo Racing leader Nasser Al-Attiyah nearly cut his lead in half.
That was the end of the planning phase, and in Stage 9 Peterhansel finally revealed the true potential of himself and the Mini Buggy. He confidently won the sprint section on Tuesday and broke away from N. Al-Attiyah again in the overall standings. The Cathar, who was 12 minutes behind the leader, finished second on Tuesday.
Carlos Sainz has shown the illusion of repeating the victory in the 2020 Dakar, but the chances that the Spanish will do so at each stage are decreasing. In the ninth stage, he did not even travel the 100 kilometers with healthy wheels, later the crew had to brake the Mini buggy on the track and forget about the victory on this stage.
Start with the sea
The start of the speed section and the first section on Tuesday were just off the coast of the Red Sea. In open-level venues, participants were able to press the accelerator up to 180 km / h. Speed limit and only on sandy inclusions did we have to slow down.
On Tuesday the crossovers were short, amounting to just 109 kilometers, but organizers named the 465-kilometer speed section one of the most difficult in this year’s marathon rally. This was due not only to the long distance but also to the changing environment.
The biggest challenge for the runners has once again been the rocky terrain of Saudi Arabia, as well as the sections with extremely large rocks. The last part of the track was also an unusual challenge for the Dakar in 2021: the participants had to climb to the top and finish at an altitude of more than 1 kilometer.
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