Cars: Yazeed Al-Rajhi wins the marathon stage
The recap of Stage 7 of the Dakar Rally in the Cars category.
After a day of rest, the second half of the Dakar Rally started in Ha’il. It was a marathon stage, which tested the strength and patience of all the competitors. Let’s take a look at how the events unfolded in the Cars class. We saw an interesting battle among the leaders, which definitely was breathtaking and everything was decided at the finish line.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi was second in Stage 6 but turned out it was way far from his limit. The Saudi Arabian had a good day driving his Toyota in the desert. He was in the top 5 for the whole day and at the end when it mattered most. He won Stage 7 — first stage victory in the 2021 campaign for him. Though Al-Rajhi is more than 5 hours away from the overall lead, he will remember this day forever as it is his first stage victory on home soil.
Stéphane Peterhansel had a nearly ideal day — he was leading in the majority of waypoints and was preparing to win his first stage in 2021 to become the most successful stage winner in the Dakar Rally history, passing Cyril Despres. However, it all came to a dramatic ending. Peterhansel lost the pace in the final stretch and came home 48 seconds short of Al-Rajhi’s time. The Frenchman should be happy at the same time as he increases the lead in the general standings from his title rival Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Stage 6 winner Carlos Sainz performed at his level. He had a consistent pace to get to the top 3 of Sunday’s stage. El Matador finished third in Stage 7, trailing by 1m 15s — a good result for the Spaniard.
Nothing has changed in the overall rankings after seven stages. Stéphane Peterhansel keeps leading with a total time of 26h 36m 50s. Nasser Al-Attiyah is second and loses 7m 53s to Peterhansel. Carlos Sainz completes the top 3 with a 41m 6s gap to the leader.
