Dakar Rally 2020: Stage 4

Today's 4th stage covers 676 km for the cars and 672 km for the bikes from Neom to Al Ula, 453 km of which are special stages alone. The imposing landscape is reminiscent of a huge western landscape with striking rocks and mountain ranges that must be crossed.

In the car category, Saudi Yazeed al Rajhi on number 309 repeats his good performance from the previous day and takes 4th place in the stage. He seriously intends to have a say in the most spectacular rally in the world when it comes to victory. And he has good chances, after all he is at home here. Fernando Alonso is a bit more erratic and sometimes finds himself in the opposite direction of his opponents, obviously having lost his bearings here and there. He also almost collides with Terranova, but his fighting spirit finally brings him to the 13th place of the day and he is already back on the 20th intermediate place in the classification, after he was set back for more than two hours by a breakdown on the 2nd stage. At the front, three drivers are fighting for victory: Carlos Sainz, Stéphane Peterhansel and Nasser Al-Attiyah. Sainz starts as the leader and fights his way through the rough terrain like a matador. Despite finishing the day in 3rd place, he still holds the lead in the classification. Frenchman Stèphane Peterhansel, on the other hand, is able to make up for yesterday's defeat and, with today's victory, make up valuable time on the leader Sainz and regain 3rd place in the overall standings. And all this despite the fact that the veteran got lost once.

"We got lost once, had a puncture, it's far from over, it was difficult, but it's nice to win a stage."

Peterhansel said in an interview after the race. Nasser Al-Attiyah maneuvers skillfully through the desert, which shakes him and his co-driver up quite a bit. With second place on the stage he remains in the race for victory. This trio is serious about winning the 2020 Dakar Rally, but the journey is still long.

Overall ranking

Rang	Fahrerteam	Nr.	Zeit
1	Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz	305	15:12:12 hrs.
2	Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel	300	15:15:15 hr.
2	Stéphane Peterhansel / Paulo Fiuza	302	15:23:54 hrs.

Results stage 4

Rang	Fahrerteam	Nr.	Zeit
1	Stéphane Peterhansel / Paulo Fiuza	302	4:04:34 hrs.
2	Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel	300	4:07:00 hrs.
3	Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz	305	4:11:52 hrs.

The bikers have to get up early on the 4th stage. The race for the two-wheeled adventurers starts at 6:00 a.m. and it's important to dress warmly, because at this time the desert is still very fresh, with temperatures dropping to freezing. Yesterday's winner Ricky Brabec from the USA is the first to start the race and with a solid ride he takes 5th place in the stage and continues to secure the lead. Kevin Benafides and Joan Barreda cross the way on a rocky passage, Barreda loses the bike and crashes. To get the heavy part upright in the desert takes energy and time, along with frustration and anger over the crash, which in the end costs him over 17 minutes on the stage win. Benafides shows a strong consistency with his second place today, as he has always closed among the top 4 so far, which gives him the 2nd place in the overall classification. After yesterday's accident of van Beveren, another Yamaha rider drops out today. Xavier de Soultrait crashed and injured his wrist so badly that he has to retire. This means that Yamaha loses its two top riders within just two days. And finally, the young Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo celebrates his first stage win today and thus keeps himself in the race for the victory of the Dakar 2020. Thus, the Monster Energy Honda Team 2020 leads the overall classification with three riders at once.