Dakar Rally 2020: 6th stage

On today's 6th stage of the Dakar Rally 2020, the competitors will be challenged over a fabulously long 830 km to get from Ha'il to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Special stages account for 477 km of this distance. This stage leads through the Arabia that comes to mind when you hear its name: an endless sandy desert of 1001 dunes, or rather 1 million and 1 dunes, which must be overcome and survived, passing numerous herds of camels.

The Saudi Yazeed al Rajhi on number 309 feels fully in his element on the stage, the man has no trouble with dunes, they are his home. Once again he takes 4th place and thus secures 4th place behind the three big veterans and favorites Sainz, Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel, but no more. The experienced Dakar winners are increasingly pulling away from the rest of the field as a trio. Nasser Al-Attiyah also feels very much at home here, he was able to keep up with Peterhansel's Mini but never managed to catch up with him. With a gap of around 3 minutes to the day's winner, he clinched 3rd place for the day and secured 2nd place overall. He felt a bit at a disadvantage with his Toyota against the buggies of his closest rivals. He is still lacking a breakthrough in this year's Dakar. Carlos Sainz delivers another strong solid drive. It's almost a matter of luck whether he or Peterhansel wins. He closes the stage in 2nd place, just 1:33 minutes behind the stage winner Stéphane Peterhansel, and thus maintains his lead in the rally. For Peterhansel it is already the second stage he has won today. He is now closing the gap on his rivals.

"I didn't think I would win another stage at my age. Today's stage in particular demanded extreme concentration. Up dunes, down dunes, then potholes, you have to pay attention like hell, that takes more mental strength than physical condition."

said the former champion in an interview after his race. As a final side note, we would like to point out Fernando Alonso's repeated strong result. With a 7th place in the stage, he demonstrated stamina and speed. At the moment, he still has the best possible chance of finishing in the top 5.

Results stage 6

Rang	Fahrerteam	Nr.	Zeit
1	Stéphane Peterhansel / Paulo Fiuza	302	4:27:17 hrs.
2	Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz	305	4:28:50 hrs.
3	Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel	300	4:30:39 hrs.

Overall ranking

Rang	Fahrerteam	Nr.	Zeit
1	Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz	305	23:33:03 hrs.
2	Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel	300	23:40:51 hrs.
2	Stéphane Peterhansel / Paulo Fiuza	302	19:22:06 hrs.

In the early morning hours the bikers start into the 6th stage. Today it hits unfortunate a driver from the leading field. The Argentine Kevin Benafides has to make a forced stop 45 km before the finish line, because the engine has unexpectedly suffered damage. The breakdown costs him over 3 hours and with it the chance to win the Dakar 2020. He is devastated, as until today he was in 2nd place overall and had good prospects of winning the rally. All the good performances and successes of the past few days have thus been destroyed, a hard blow. As if he wanted to help his big brother, Luciano Benafides takes the 5th place of the day and the 7th place in the overall classification, so the family honor is preserved again. Jose Ignacio Cornejo delivers a good race again. The 6th place of the day in today's stage catapults him to the 4th place overall. He is only 2 seconds behind third-placed Toby Price, who has to settle for 11th place in today's stage. Andrew Short shows real nerves and endurance today, as he loses his rear tire at km 420 and has to find his way to the finish on the rim for the rest of the stage. His 24th place in the stage is a real achievement in this respect. Husquarna rider Pablo Quintanilla continues to ride strong today and secures 2nd place overall with today's result. He is the only rider to break the dominance of the leading two teams, Monster Energy Honda and Red Bull KTM Factory. Repeatedly, the American Ricky Brabec wins today's stage and thus extends his lead in the Dakar 2020.