The saddest victories of Carlos Sainz and Joan Barreda in the Dakar

Fernando Alonso (Toyota) sum his fourth stage in which he finishes in the top ten by signing the sixth position again

Carlos Sainz, during a stage of the Dakar.

ANDRE PAIN EFE

• Dakar
  

  Paulo Gonalves dies in an accident
  

Carlos Sainz (Mini) took the seventh stage of the Dakar this Sunday and stretched his lead again as leader of the race over Qatar Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota) and the French Stphane Peterhansel (Mini). On motorcycles, there was also a Spanish triumph, that of Joan Barreda (Honda), in a day of mourning for the death of the Portuguese Paulo Gonalves.

Sainz sum his third stage won in this Dakar by being the fastest in the longest special of the entire rally, with 546 kilometers timed between Riyadh and Wadi Al Dawasir (Saudi Arabia), where he took 2 minutes and 12 seconds to Al Attiyah, who finished in second position, and almost three on Peterhansel, which was third.

Thus, Madrid remains leader in the general classification, now with 10 minutes advantage over the pilot Qatar, winner of the last Dakar, and more than 19 on the French, thirteen times winner of the rally, six of them by motorcycle and seven by car.

Sainz took advantage of that Peterhansel, his teammate, was in charge of opening the track at this stage to eat ground both l and Al Attiyah, which room behind. As the Mini Demonstrated buggy that is still fast on the sand and in the dunes, just as it was during the first week of competition on the hard tracks and rock canyons.

The Spanish went from less to more during the day and mid-stage was already the fastest driver, a ethnic that kept until the end of the timed section.

For its part, Fernando Alonso (Toyota) He added his fourth stage in which he finishes in the top ten by signing the sixth position again. As the champion of Formula 1 had already anticipated, the sand and dunes were the right terrain to be faster than on the hard tracks and stone roads on which the Dakar moved during its first week.

Alonso became fourth in three of the first four sets of the stage and for a moment touched the possibility of being among the first three, an objective that has been raised before the end of his first participation in the Dakar.

The seventh stage of the Dakar was marked by the death of the Portuguese motorcycle rider Paulo Gonalves (Hero), who suffered an accident at kilometer 276. On this day the Dakar caravan entered the “Fourth Cow” of Saudi Arabia, a large desert extension of 650,000 square kilometers practically uninhabited in the south of the country where the second part of the rally will take place.

24 stage for Barreda

Barreda, meanwhile, won his first stage victory in this Dakar and the twenty-fourth in his ten appearances in the toughest rally in the world, followed by the Australian Matthias Walkner (KTM) and from the Argentine Luciano Benavides (KTM).

In fourth position was the American Ricky Brabec (Honda), who continued as the leader of the general classification, although the back positions may vary when the organization returns the time spent by the Australian Toby Price (KTM) and other pilots in auxiliary to Gonalves