Dakar 2020 // SS5: Stage win number two for Carlos Sainz (MINI JCW Buggy)
Sainz extends his overall lead
Five MINI in the top ten on day five
Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (both ESP) in the MINI John Cooper Works Buggy extended their overall lead with another win on the stage from Al-`Ula to Hail. Their team-mates in the Bahrain JCW X-raid Team, Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) and Paulo Fiuza (POR), ended the stage in third place in their MINI JCW Buggy.
Today was also a good day for the crews in the MINI JCW Rally. Orlando “Orly” Terranova and Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue finished fifth on the stage and occupy the same position in the overall standings. Yasir Seaidan (KSA) and his Russian co-driver Alexey Kuzmich came home eighth, followed by Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski (POL) and Timo Gottschalk (GER).
A puncture initially saw Sainz drop back early in the stage. However, he soon fought his way back into the lead. He led at the 250-kilometre waypoint and was never caught thereafter. “We started well but then, unfortunately, we had to change a tyre,” said Sainz. “The final part of the stage was difficult: fast, but uneven with a lot of camel grass. This terrain suits our Buggy, which was superb again today. We were also able to extend our overall lead by three minutes.”
Third place on today’s leg sees Peterhansel and Fiuza tighten their grip on third place in the overall standings. The duo showed great pace, but repeatedly lost time due to two punctures. “We had a puncture after about 80 kilometres and had to stop,” the Frenchman reported. “There was a huge amount of camel grass on the second part of the stage. The impacts affect man and machine. Unfortunately, I picked up a slow puncture in this section. Carlos caught us here and we drove to the finish together.”
Seaidan and Kuzmich bounced back from yesterday’s misfortune with a very fine performance today in their MINI JCW Rally. They were actually running in the top three for the first half of the stage. However, they lost some time in the second half of the leg and eventually came home in a respectable eighth place. Behind them, in ninth place, were Przygonski and Gottschalk. “It was a tough stage with a lot of rocks, dunes and camel grass,” said the Pole. “We pushed as hard as we could without taking too many risks.”
Tomorrow’s route takes the competitors to the Saudi capital Riyadh, where they will have a rest day on Saturday. Before then, however, they face a long day: after a 177-kilometre liaison stage, the drivers must complete 477 kilometres against the clock. After that, they still have another 177 kilometres to the bivouac in Riyadh. Prior to the event, the organisers announced that day six is one of the hardest on this year’s Dakar.
Dakar Rally – Result SS5*
1. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 52m 01s
2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 3h 54m 57s
3. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / P. Fiuza (POR) MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 58m 12s
4. Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Toyota – 4h 00m 30s
5. O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 00m 53s
…
8. Y. Seaidan (KSA) / A. Kuzmich (RUS) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 04m 40s
9. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 04m 48s
…
18. D. Krotov (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 30m 43s
19. A. Dorosinskiy (RUS) / O. Uperenko (LVA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 31m 05s
Dakar Rally – Overall result after SS5*
1. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy – 19h 04m 13s
2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 19h 10m 12s
3. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / P. Fiuza (POR) MINI JCW Buggy – 19h 22m 06s
4. Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Toyota – 19h 35m 52s
5. O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI JCW Rally – 19h 36m 18s
…
9. Y. Seaidan (KSA) / A. Kuzmich (RUS) MINI JCW Rally – 20h 47m 17s
…
16. D. Krotov (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) MINI JCW Rally – 21h 54m 12s
17. A. Dorosinskiy (RUS) / O. Uperenko (LVA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 22h 03m 52s
…
tba. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) MINI JCW Rally – 25h 50m 56s
*preliminary result: 15:30 (AST)
