De Villiers clinches third as Dakar produces fire drama and crashes
THE MOTORSPORT LAP
The 2018 Dakar Rally, which concluded in Cordoba, Argentina, on January 20 proved to be one of the most taxing yet. With the race having begun in Lima, Peru, on January 6 and having passed through four cities and covered 9,000km, it was anything but easy and was characterised by numerous incidents.
Among the South African competitors that included Dakar stalwart and former champion Giniel de Villiers, there were also David Thomas (Husqvarna), Willem du Toit (KTM), Donovan van den Langenberg (KTM), Gerry van der Byl (KTM), Hennie de Klerk and Gerhard Schutte — both privateers commandeering Volkswagen Amaroks.
There was drama in stage 3 when Mikko Hirvonen (X-raid Mini Buggy) rolled his vehicle, making it the third X-raid Mini Buggy to suffer the same fate following Bryce Menzies and Yazeed Al-Rajhi suffering accidents. Returning competitor Nani Roma also rolled his Mini John Cooper Works Rally car at the end of the 296km timed special stage, getting to the end 26 minutes down on the leader and requiring medical attention, putting paid to the team’s chances.
The Toyota Hilux of Alicia Reina and co-driver Carlos Dante caught fire during the stage and burnt out. Both managed to walk away unscathed.
The race standing from stage 9 saw the defending champion, Stephane Peterhansel, and co-driver Jean Paul Cottret (Team Peugeot Total) leading the pack. They were followed by teammates Cyril Despres and co-driver David Castera in second, who received a 10-minute penalty following an alleged contact with quad- bike rider Kees Koolen. Despres’s team aims to appeal.
Third spot went to the stage 1 winner, the Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel, while the second Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux of Bernhard Ten Brinke and Michel Perin were in fourth spot. Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz were ninth at the end of stage 9.
Al-Attiyah started the penultimate stage 13 in third overall and the first car on the stage as a result of setting the previous day’s fastest time. The Qatari soon found himself in trouble and lost more than 10 minutes due to mechanical difficulties. But he was able to get himself on the move again. It would come as a surprise to Al-Attiyah that by the end of the stage he had risen one place in the general classification.
Going into the final stage AlAttiyah was the runner-up in the car category, 46 minutes behind front runner Carlos Sainz (Team Peugeot Total). This change in the leaderboard was partly due to the misfortune suffered by 13-time Dakar winner Peterhansel, whose Peugeot clipped a tree 78km into the special stage and he was only able to resume racing after assistance arrived in the form of his teammate Despres.
By stage 14, De Villiers had moved up to third overall. While De Villiers won the 14th and final stage, it was Sainz who took the overall win, followed by Al-Attiyah in second and De Villiers in third.
The trucks category saw Eduard Nikolaev, Evgeny Yakovlev and Vladimir Rybakov (Kamaz-Master) take first spot, followed by Siarhei Viazovich, Pavel Haranin and Andrei Zhyhulin (Maz-Sportauto) in second. Airat Mardeev, Aydar Belyaev and Dimitry Svistunov (KamazMaster) were third.
In the bikes class Matthias Walkner (KTM) finished first, followed by Kevin Benavides (Honda) and Toby Price (KTM) in second and third. The Quads segment saw Ignaco Casale (Casale Racing) take victory ahead of Nicolas Cavigliasso (Team Al Deser) in second and Jeremias Gonzalez Feroli (Consultores Empresas) in third.
NANI ROMA ROLLED HIS MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RALLY CAR AT THE END OF THE 296KM TIMED SPECIAL STAGE