Dakar 2020: A “super day” for Alonso from behind the trucks

The Spaniard, who traced Peterhansel's times in the last stages, maintains his good feelings and finishes eighth.

• Sainz
  

  One step away from his third title
  

The second marathon stage, with 379 kilometers of special, seemed like a challenge for Fernando Alonso. Work with Marc Coma had been extended well into the Shubaytah camp late at night, where Toyota Hilux received emergency care after two bell laps of the day before. However, the Spaniard responded in the dunes with another of his strokes of genius and kept pace with the favorites.

The eighth position on the stage, at 16:25 from Stephane Peterhansel, acquires greater merit given the difficulties of his day. Despite being framed in the 56th position of the starting box, its real position was 113th, in the wake of many trucks that would hinder its progression.

However, the double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans clenched his teeth in search of a comeback that allowed him to overtake 32 cars. In the last three sections, Peterhansel's time was allowed to be traced, the fastest on Thursday. One more evidence of its vertiginous desert adaptation.

“Very soft dunes”

“We already found the dunes very soft, but Marc and the car have been top,” Nadal explained in his social networks, referring to the difficult conditions in these unpredictable obstacles. One more day, his Hilux seemed to behave better on the sand than on the more rocky terrain. “It was a super day,” confirmed the Spaniard.

In addition, the abandonment of the fierce Pierre Lachaume (Peugeot) allowed a small jump to the thirteenth position of the general. Too bad Martin Prokop (Ford), with 40 minutes less, is too far ahead of the last day.