Competitors in the 2018 Dakar Rally took a rest day Friday in
La Paz, Bolivia, as they gear up for the second half of the annual event
through three countries in South America.
A total of six stages have been completed through Friday.
All stages set in Peru have been contested, with more action scheduled to take
place in Bolivia before competitors reach and complete the event in Argentina
on January 20.
Experience is what leads the car category. Two-time
defending champion Stephane Peterhansel of France, seeking an unprecedented
14th Dakar Rally crown (and eighth in the car category), sits atop the leaderboard
in cars with a healthy lead over two-time World Rally Championship titlist
Carlos Sainz. Peterhansel has one stage victory – the fifth-round journey from San
Juan de Marcona to Arequipa, Peru – and leads Sainz by more than 27 minutes.
Both drivers are in their 50s. Five of the top six drivers in the car category
are listed as legends.
The closest category is the bike category, with Kevin Benavides
of Argentina leading Adrien Van Beveren by only a minute and 57 seconds.
Benavides – who wrested the lead from Van Beveren after the most recently
completed round from Arequipa to La Paz – has yet to win a stage but his two
runner-up finishes and a third-place effort have him in front.
Other overall leaders include: Ignacio Casale of Chile
(quads); Reinaldo Varela of Brazil (SxS); and three-time champion Eduard
Nikolaev of Russia (trucks). All three have leads of more than a half hour, in
part due to multiple stage wins (Casale and Nikolaev each have three, and
Varela has two).
The seventh stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally is scheduled for
Saturday, January 13, with a 727-kilometer journey from La Paz to Uyuni,
Bolivia.
Notes of Interest
- - Nicolas Cavigliasso of Argentina won the fifth
stage from San Juan de Marcona to Arequipa in the quad category.
- - With Sam Sunderland’s departure after the fourth
stage due to back problems, the bike category is up for grabs. The
highest-running former bike champion is Toby Price, fifth after six stages.
Sunderland had won two of the first three bike stages but retired after
suffering an injury on a jump.
- - The top nine riders in the bike category are
separated by 18 minutes. The top two in every other category are separated by
at least 27 minutes.
- - France has the most stage wins throughout the
event, with seven overall across three categories. Russia is second with five
wins, four of which have come in the truck category.
- - The highest running rookies overall through six
stages include: Luciano Benavides (16th, bikes); Nicolas Cavigliasso (sixth,
quads); Boris Vaculik (31st, cars); Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos (second, SxS); and Martin
Soltys (12th, truck).
- - Three rookies have won stages. Peru’s Anibal
Aliaga won the opening stage in the SxS category, and led the overall standings
after the first day from Lima to Pisco. His fellow Peruvian, Juan Carlos Uribe
Ramos, took command in the overall rankings in the category for the next two stages,
and won the third stage from Pisco to San Juan de Marcona.
Here are the winners/leaders following six stages.
Statistics – After Six
Stages
Bike:
- Stage Wins (Drivers): Sam Sunderland (2), Joan Barreda
Bort (2), Adrien Van Beveren (1), Antoine Meo (1)
- Stage Wins (Countries): United Kingdom (2), Spain (2),
France (2)
- Overall Leader: Kevin Benavides (new; by 1 minute, 57
seconds over previous leader, Adrien Van Beveren)
Quad:
- Stage Wins (Drivers): Ignacio Casale (3), Sergei Kariakin
(1), Nicolas Cavigliasso (1), Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (1)
- Stage Wins (Countries): Chile (3), Argentina (2), Russia
(1)
- Overall Leader: Ignacio Casale (by 41 minutes, 30 seconds
over Alexis Hernandez)
Car:
- Stage Wins (Drivers): Nasser Al-Attiyah (2), Cyril Despres
(1), Sebastien Loeb (1), Stephane Peterhansel (1), Carlos Sainz (1)
- Stage Wins (Countries): France (3), Qatar (2), Spain (1)
- Overall Leader: Stephane Peterhansel (by 27 minutes, 10
seconds over Carlos Sainz)
SxS:
- Stage Wins (Drivers): Reinaldo Varela (2), Patrice
Garrouste (2), Anibal Aliaga (1), Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos (1)
- Stage Wins (Countries): Peru (2), Brazil (2), France (2)
- Overall Leader: Reinaldo Varela (32 minutes, 7 seconds
over Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos)
Truck:
- Stage Wins (Drivers): Eduard Nikolaev (3), Federico
Villagra (2), Ales Loprais (1)
- Stage Wins (Countries): Russia (4), Argentina (2)
- Overall Leader: Eduard Nikolaev (by 52 minutes, 40 seconds
over Federico Villagra)
Sources:
- - Dakar Rally official website – www.dakar.com
- - New York Daily News
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