Dakar Stage 2: Peterhansel wins, Sainz Sr. takes overall lead

Audi driver Stephane Peterhansel scored his 50th career win in the Dakar Rally on Sunday, while Audi teammate Carlos Sainz Sr. moved into the overall lead.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

After a series of tire punctures set him back in Stage 1 on Saturday, Peterhansel rebounded to win Stage 2 by 29-seconds over Sebastien Loeb.

Loeb finished 2-minutes clear of factory Toyota driver Seth Quintero who was third.

Loeb’s team-mate Al-Attiyah started the day as Peterhansel’s closest challenger but dropped to as far back as 11th by the second timed marker, before gradually making his way up the field to finish a solid fourth.

Bikes

Jose ‘Nacho’  Cornejo won Stage 2 in Bikes.  Ross Branch, winner of the Prologue, leads overall.

The tide of fate can turn in an instant in the Dakar, as we saw in stage 2. While Ross Branch managed to cling on to the overall lead, the other standout performer of yesterday’s motorbike special will cry bitter tears tonight.

Mason Klein running into mechanical trouble with his Kove seemed a matter of “when”, not “if”. Disaster struck at km 46, forcing the American to screech to a halt and spend two hours repairing his mount. His podium ambitions are dead and buried, but he remains in the race and could still pull a rabbit or two out of his hat on the road to Yanbu.

Nacho Cornejo, no stranger to the places of honor, capitalized on his navigational acumen. Starting in third place, he soon linked up with Ricky Brabec and Ross Branch to form a well-oiled three-cog machine that crossed the finish line together and hoovered up the time bonuses at stake.

The Chilean’s seventh Dakar stage win propelled him to within 2′55″ of the Botswanan leader as the highest-ranked of the three Hondas near Branch.

1st-3rd-5th for Honda riders

It was a positive day for the Monster Energy Honda Team with all riders finishing in the top ten as José Ignacio Cornejo put in a superb ride to pick up his seventh Dakar rally stage win and move him up to second in the overall standings.

Ricky Brabec was second off the start line and immediately into the 20 km of dunes, on a day where the navigation specialists would come into their element on the off-piste sections.  Not surprisingly, Cornejo, who favors tricky navigation, would catch the lead group of Ross Branch and Brabec 90 km in to be in command during most of the stage.  Pablo Quintanilla added himself into the mix, with at one point just a second separating the Chilean riders as the Hondas impressed on the vast dirt tracks around the black stone mountains.

There’s a new bonus system coming into play for 2024, competitors within 15 seconds of the opening rider will benefit too and with 6’23” available today, Cornejo made the most of this despite a small crash, to accumulate 4’14 in bonuses sharing this with Branch and Brabec.

Cars Stage 2 Results (Top-10)

Cars Overall Ranking after Stage 2

Bikes Stage 2 Results (Top-10)

Bikes Ranking after Stage 2