Dakar Rally Stage 10 Video Summary

Pending validation by the race stewards, the leader of the general standings, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW), has finally won his 1st stage victory on the 32nd Dakar, the 16th of his career in the event, by beating Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (BMW) by 28" and his American team-mate Mark Miller (VW) by 1’02.

As a result, in the general standings, “El Matador" Sainz has given himself a bit more breathing space out front with a lead that now stands at 10’06 over his Qatari team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) and 28’19 over his American team-mate Mark Miller (VW). This still means 3 Volkswagens occupy the first 3 places, whereas the 4th placed driver, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (BMW), trails the leader by 2.14:20.

In the Open category, there was no surprise as American Robby Gordon (Hummer) triumphed for the 9th time out of 10 specials, with the 10th best scratch time. Lastly, in the Production category, Japan’s Jun Mitsuhashi won his 6th special of the 32nd edition, 13’15 ahead of Spaniard Xavier Foj (Toyota). More importantly, this 10th special witnessed the bad luck of general standings leader and title holder, Frenchman Nicolas Gibon (Toyota), who rolled his car after 187 km of the day’s special. As a result, he loses command of the general standings to today’s winner, his Japanese teammate.