Dakar Summary – Stage 2

Stage two

The second stage more challenging than the first, several contenders lost time due to navigation problems, and SA’s Giniel de Villiers moved into second place early on in the stage. De Villiers and team mate von Zitzewitz finished the special stage of deep, soft sand outside Pisco in 2:35 behind the Mini. Leader Peterhansel, who rates De Villiers as stiff competition, lead the rally in their Mini ahead of countrymen Chabot and Pillot, who are 1:08 behind the SA team in their Hilux.

Yesterday’s leader, Carlos Sainz, tumbled out of the top 10 when he tackled a tough dune 75km into the stage, which his competitors opted to avoid. Al-Attiyah dropped to sixth place overall in the Rally after he too lost time, and his team mate Sainz sits at 11th overall.

Duncan Vos and Rob Howie finished 14th after coming over a dune too quickly and rolling their Hilux. After landing on their wheels, the continued and finished 20 minutes behind the leaders, finishing 13th overall in the rally and 22:40 behind Peterhansel.

“Today’s special stage was more difficult than we expected.  It was very hot – 40 degrees Centigrade outside and 60 degrees in the car.  Navigation was tricky, especially with the sun making it difficult to see the tops of the dunes,” reported De Villiers.  “So I didn’t go very fast in the first part of the stage, but then things got better.  At the end we’re happy because the Hilux is working well and we didn’t have any problems.  This is a good sign for the next few days, which should be very difficult.”

Click here to view all stage summaries.