Peterhansel moves into Dakar lead as Toyota's Al-Attiyah wins Stage 2
Nasser Al-Attiyah put Toyota on top in the second stage of the 2021 Dakar Rally on Monday, as Stephane Peterhansel took the overall lead from X-raid Mini team-mate Carlos Sainz
Three-time event winner Sainz started first on the road in the 457km test from Bisha to Wadi Ad-Dawasir following his victory in Stage 1 on Sunday, but had already slipped behind Peterhansel by the second waypoint at the 46km mark.
Once out in front, Peterhansel slowly started stretching a lead in his Mini buggy, his advantage stretching to 1m31s in the first 220km as Sainz continued to drop behind.
However, this was as big a buffer Peterhansel could build, as Al-Attiyah rapidly started eating into his advantage from the sixth waypoint and finally grabbed the lead at the 315km mark.
The Qatari driver eventually won the stage by over two minutes from Peterhansel, marking a massive turnaround in fortunes following a dismal 10th-place finish in the opening stage.
However, the 12 minutes he lost on Sunday means he sits only third overall in the standings, nine minutes in arrears of Peterhansel and three minutes behind second-placed Sainz.
After running neck-to-neck with Peterhansel on Sunday before claiming a narrow 25-second win, Sainz's deficit to his teammate stretched to 6m37s, the gap widening by nearly five minutes in the 22km stretch between waypoints seven and eight.
Behind the leading trio, Overdrive Toyota driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and Century's Mathieu Serradori finished fourth and fifth, the duo separated by just three seconds at the finish.
The result allowed Serradori to remain fourth in the general classification, while Al Rajhi provisionally moved inside the top 10 following his 16th place finish on Sunday.
After a nightmare start to his fifth Dakar outing with three punctures and navigational errors, nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb bounced back strongly on Monday to set the sixth-fastest time in Stage 2.
This has helped the 46-year-old, driving for the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme team, to jump from 22nd to seventh in the overall order, although he has already slipped more than half an hour behind fellow Frenchman Peterhansel.
Century driver Brian Baragwanath was another driver to break inside the top 10 following a disappointing showing in Sunday's leg, jumping from 21st to eighth with the seventh-fastest time of the day.
Overdrive man Jakub Przygonski finished less than a minute behind Baragwanath in eighth, but gained four places overall to move up to fifth ahead of Al Rajhi.
The top 10 in the overall standings is completed by another Overdrive driver, Bernhard Ten Brinke, and the second BRX1 of 2014 winner Nani Roma.
Sainz: COVID means "double the pressure" on 2021 Dakar Rally
Al-Attiyah had to "attack from day one" of Dakar in "open" victory fight
Injury, COVID, camels and redemption: A MotoGP star's Dakar odyssey
Danilo Petrucci’s decision to switch to rallying at the conclusion of his time in MotoGP at the end of 2021 raised many eyebrows. Deciding to make his rally raid debut at the Dakar courted scepticism. With his debut almost over on several occasions before it began, Petrucci’s Dakar odyssey was a wild affair full of ups, downs and a run-in with a camel. He sat down with Autosport to reveal all
The positive future implications of Audi's creditable Dakar debut
OPINION: Audi has been a disruptive presence on the 2022 Dakar Rally, with its new hybrid RS Q e-tron taking three stage wins so far. Its impressive pace and resilience on one of the world’s toughest tests also bodes well for the Dakar’s future as it seeks to attract new manufacturers
How Prodrive plans to use trial by Dakar to spur it to victory
Having tasted plenty of success in the World Rally Championship in the past, Prodrive took its off-road excursions to a new level with its first Dakar Rally entry this year. Now well-versed in the challenges that the famous rally-raid event possesses, Prodrive can learn from those lessons for next year's tilt at Dakar honours
Why Loeb has joined forces with an old enemy for Dakar
The nine-time World Rally champion is heading to the Dakar Rally with an all-new project, and is joining up with the team he often fought against in the WRC - Prodrive - in his quest to finally add the most famed rally raid of them all to his bulging CV
Richards on Prodrive's new Dakar challenge
With a stunning success record in motorsport, Prodrive is targeting a new crown by entering the 2021 Dakar Rally. David Richards provides an update on the programme, how COVID has slowed its plans and its options on who sits behind the wheel of its new car
Why Alonso is already exceeding expectations in Dakar bid
How significant was Fernando Alonso's first cross-country rallying podium on a Saudi Arabian event last weekend? Very. The next leg of his post-F1 quest for versatile glory is going very well so far...
What Alonso learned from his best Dakar test yet
Double Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso took on one of his biggest challenges yet in the five-day Dakar warm-up event, Rally Morocco. Alonso gives his thoughts on his progress in a "bittersweet" event, and whether he will contest the Dakar
Why Alonso must heed Loeb's Dakar failures
Fernando Alonso is edging closer to a Dakar debut, but he should take heed of the lessons rallying legend Sebastien Loeb has learned through several near-misses, despite his promising performances at the event