Dakar Day 2: Peterhansel to the fore!

Stephane Peterhansel

Day 2 of Dakar and in the car category, Stephane Peterhansel took control of the race, picking up his 62nd stage victory, following Carlos Sousa's mishaps at the start of the special.

Peterhansel took up the position of leader, conquered on completion of a stage driven with the requisite doses of calm and aggression! It was perhaps this control of pace that was lacking for yesterday's winner Carlos Sousa, who ground to a halt after 33 km of the special, after breaking his turbo. The Portuguese driver, who is often among the most regular in the discipline, could paradoxically leave the race prematurely whilst having started the day in first place. At the very least, between San Rafael and San Luis, he will have lost a considerable number of hours, robbing him of any hope of victory or even the podium in Valparaiso.

Whilst “Peter" regained his favorite place after two days of racing, the gaps have nonetheless shortened at the top of the general car standings, because the leader only has an advantage of half a minute over Carlos Sainz and his SMG buggy. Behind them, the top 5 is made up of three of Peterhansel's X-Raid team-mates. The presence in 3rd of Nasser Al Attiyah (4'10'' behind the Frenchman in the general), despite two flat tires which obliged him to drive without a spare wheel for 100 kilometers, makes it likely that there will be one hell of a battle on the podium. The confrontation could still expand thanks to Nani Roma (4th, 4'19'' behind “Peter") or even Orly Terranova, still within less than 10 minutes of the general standings leader.

Stage two times:

Overall positions after stage two: