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Dakar in Saudi Arabia has shown itself from it’s best and darkest side in a matter of days. The beauty and praise for the Saudi Arabian terrain and landscapes was deeply overshadowed by the passing of Paulo Gonçalves. The Dakar convoy has to continue without the Portuguese veteran and the Hero team who have decided to withdraw from this years Dakar. We look back at the past nine days of Dakar...
Out of consideration of the loss of one of their fellow riders, stage eight was cancelled for both quads and bikes leaving the standings unchanged. American Honda rider Ricky Brabec leads overall ahead of Husqvarna rider Pablo Quintanilla. In the Quad category it’s Chilean Ignacio Casale who leads overall.
Amongst the cars it’s Spanish rally legend Carlos Sainz who leads the pack but Mr. Dakar Nasser Al Attiyah is closing in fast. Fellow countryman to Sainz Formula One and Le Mans Ace Fernando Alonso clocked in second during stage eight.
In the light and agile SSV category it’s also an American who leads as Casey Currie is using all is desert experience to power through. Even a small mechanical failure hardly set him back.
In the truck category it’s a close call between the blue Kamaz army team mates Andrey Karginov and Anton Shibalov who are in a class of their own.
After today’s stage, stage 9 there are only three stages left in this years Dakar and everything is still wide open. To be continued…
© Pictures :A.S.O / Charly Lopez / Horacio Cabilla / FOTOP / Marcelo Machado de Melo / Frédéric Le Floc’h
