Guillaume de Mevius led a 1-2 end for X-raid Mini on Stage 6 of Dakar Rally, as Henk Lategan’s lead within the general standings was slashed to seven minutes.
As Dakar resumed after a relaxation day in Ha’il, rivals confronted a 605km take a look at en path to Al Duwadimi, however with a particular 171km switch part within the center throughout which they weren’t timed.
Toyota driver Man Botterill established himself because the early chief together with his manufacturing facility Hilux, extending his result in 1m26s over X-raid Mini driver de Mevius as they entered the switch part.
The South African seemed to be heading for a maiden stage win in Dakar till he instantly misplaced 5 minutes heading to the third-last checkpoint, slipping from first to fifth within the order.
The largest beneficiary of that drop was de Mevius, who had been carefully following Botterill throughout the whole stage. Navigating the ultimate 100km stretch with ease, de Mevius picked up his second profession stage win in Dakar with a margin of 1m34s over team-mate Joao Ferreira.
Portuguese driver Ferreira was as a lot as 5 minutes down on the frontrunners within the opening phases of the stage, however made fast good points because the day progressed, overhauling Overdrive Toyota’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi within the final 28km to safe the runner-up spot.
#240 X-Raid Mini JCW Staff Mini: Joao Ferreira, Filipe Palmeiro
Picture by: X-raid
Dacia’s star driver Nasser Al-Attiyah additionally trailed Al-Rajhi on the penultimate checkpoint, however a fast ultimate sprint propelled him to 3rd place on the finish of the stage, simply 2m01s down on winner de Mevius.
Al-Rajhi, who had borrowed a spare wheel from Saood Variawa in the course of the switch part, ultimately slipped to fifth place within the ultimate order, behind the manufacturing facility Toyota of long-time stage chief Botterill.
They have been adopted by two extra drivers from the Toyota contingent, Overdrive’s Rokas Bociuska and manufacturing facility racer Lategan.
Ford was unable to place up a combat to the quicker Toyota and Mini entries on Saturday, as Mattias Ekstrom ended up 8m9s off the tempo in eighth and team-mate Nani Roma completed additional again in tenth. They have been separated by the client MP Sports activities Raptor of Martin Prokop.
Two frontrunners dropped out of rivalry on Saturday. Toyota’s Lucas Moraes, who had been sitting fifth within the general rankings, who misplaced an hour and a half with mechanical issues after stopping simply 17km into the stage.
X-raid’s prime gun Guerlain Chicherit, in the meantime, was pressured to retire from the stage altogether after rolling over his new petrol-powered Mini on the 16km mark.
#211 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota: Henk Lategan, Brett Cummings
Picture by: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Within the general standings, Lategan continued to carry his grip on the highest spot, however his lead has been slashed by round three minutes to 7m16s with six phases remaining.
Ekstrom sits 22m adrift in third place, whereas Al-Attiyah – who misplaced victory on Stage 5 because of a penalty for a lacking wheel – is now trailing Lategan by 30m25s.
Moraes’ troubles promoted Ford’s Mitch Guthrie Jr to fifth place, whereas Mathieu Serradori is as much as sixth within the Century CR7.
Pictures from Dakar Rally Stage 6
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