Giniel relieved to hold onto fifth
After battling with a stomach bug early on stage 10, Giniel de Villiers admitted he was relieved to recover in time to put up a valiant fight, as he held on to his position at the Dakar Rally.
De Villiers finished second on Tuesday’s 373km leg between Salta and Belen, completing the stage less than 10 minutes off the pace of French driver Stephane Peterhansel.
“It was really tough out there,” De Villiers said.
“The dunes in this area are extremely tricky and the camel grass makes it even worse. It is also extremely tough on the body, and we’re glad to have made it safely to Belen.”
Spaniard Carlos Sainz retained the overall lead, with Peugeot team-mate Peterhansel climbing to second place, as they retained control of the race up front.
The local Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team were still working to keep up the pressure from behind, however, and while Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar slipped to third in the general classification after a rock damaged his vehicle’s suspension, Dutchman Bernhard ten Brinke remained in fourth position and De Villiers held on to fifth overall with just four stages left.
“The car has been rock solid so far, but unfortunately some tough dunes and tricky navigation cost us a lot of time early on,” said Toyota Gazoo team principal Glyn Hall.
“All we can do now is to keep pushing and see where we end up in four days’ time.”
On the bikes, David Thomas continued to lead the South African charge, moving up two spots to 43rd overall on his Husqvarna, though he was more than 10 hours behind KTM rider Matthias Walkner of Austria who held the overall lead.
The 11th stage of the two-week race, to be held late yesterday, was set to include a 467km liaison and a 280km special.