Racing News

Nani Roma and Michel Périn in an X-raid Mini ALL4 Racing lead the two-week Dakar going into tomorrow’s rest day in Salta, Argentina. Their X-raid teammates Orlando Terranova and Paulo Fiúza are second, while Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret are third in another X-raid Mini.

Peterhansel, an eleven-time winner of the Dakar, won the sixth stage on Friday, reducing his gap to Roma’s leading Mini. Peterhansel, trying to rebound after a difficult first week, had been forty minutes down going into today’s stage; he regained seven minutes on Roma, who finished sixth for the day, and is less than three minutes behind Terranova.

Peterhansel said, “This was a really nice special stage. It resembled a WRC special stage a lot – but in a fantastic landscape. Altogether, however, the first week didn’t run too well for us and we have to settle for holding third position. But that’s not our goal. Now we have to push for making it to the very top – but doing so increases the risk of making mistakes.”

Competition resumes on Sunday after tomorrow’s rest day. On Sunday the rally makes a loop beginning in and returning to Salta and then moves on to Uyuni, Bolivia. After that, the rally continues for six more days, ending in Valparaiso, Chile on January 18. Full details of the route along with stories, photos, and videos can be found on the Dakar web site.—Brian S. Morgan