Dakar 2020: Sainz wins almost unintentionally

Second stage for the Mini pilot, who in the goal of Ha'il leads Al-Attiyah in three minutes and Peterhansel in six.

The triumphs of the stage in the Dakar never represented a priority for Carlos Sainz, who has always preferred a background that avoids the hassle of opening the track on the following day. However, after five stages, the double champion already has two victories in this edition, where he also commands the general classification with six minutes of advantage over Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) and 18 over Stephane Peterhansel (Mini).

The good pulse of Lucas Cruz, very firm with the navigation on the way to Ha'il, was again crucial for Sainz, who after 353 kilometers timed out in three minutes to Al-Attiyah and in six to Monsieur Dakar.

One more morning, the co-pilots had received the roadbook just 15 minutes before the start of the special. Given this lack of prior information, Sainz and Cruz showed a perfect rapport to overcome the difficulties of the day, especially the dunes and sandy hills of the last section.

“I'm still very cautious, because the differences are minimal,” said Sainz, with the guard always high, typical of a veteran. “Something is going to happen at some point, I don't know, but the pace is high,” he predicted.

I breathe for Alonso and Roma

Nothing else to start, a prick had compromised the options of the champion in 2010 and 2018, which gradually regained the pace of cruise to complete another day without failures.

Fernando Alonso entered the goal in the wake of his teammate Giniel de Villiers, with just over 12 minutes lost on The matador. The stage also offered a respite to Nani Roma, who came to lose Wednesday almost five hours, but now pushed his Borgward to the thirteenth position.

On motorcycles, Toby Price (KTM) conquered his second partial victory with just over a minute of advantage over Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna). The current dominion champion from kilometer 100 and gave no choice to his rivals. He also cut more than three minutes to the leader of the general, Ricky Brabec (Honda), who manages well the day to finish third and still maintain more than nine minutes of margin.

Barreda, in nobody's area

The sad note was signed by Sam Sunderland, winner in 2017, forced to withdraw after a hard one at kilometer 187 that turns his back and left shoulder.

Joan Barreda (Honda), who starts from the 23rd position, came to fight for the stage podium, although he finally reached sixth more than nine minutes. The Castellón remains seventh overall in more than half an hour of the leadership.