The fourth stage of the marathon of the Dakar 2024 rally took place on Tuesday. Well, or the second part of the marathon stage, which began the day before. It is true that this time the participants were still entitled to limited assistance from the mechanics and they promised to make today’s course not too difficult…
CAR: Al-Rajhi maintains the brand
Toyota’s new leader, Yazid Al-Rajhi, maintained first place in the overall classification, despite the slow puncture he suffered during the second half of the special. Furthermore, the representative of Saudi Arabia even managed to separate himself slightly from Carlos Sainz: Yazid increased the lead from a paltry 23 seconds to four and a half minutes. However, by Dakar standards, this is not enough to feel calm.
There is relative stability in the ranks of the pursuers: Nasser Al-Attiyah remains third, 11 minutes behind, and behind the Qatari Lucas Moraes and Mattias Ekström. It is true that the Swede from Audi had a normal day: he lost more than ten minutes. But everything is relative: if Ekström remains in the top five and with a slight delay, the newcomer to the prototype category, Seth Quintero, was forced to retire due to mechanical problems. It’s a shame: the young Toyota driver showed excellent speed, but the marathon rally is tough.
Unfortunately, Seth Quintero’s brilliant Dakar quickly came to an end
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
The fastest today was Sebastien Loeb, who managed to recover from yesterday’s three punctures and is still ahead of Al-Rajhi and Al-Attiyah in the special. The first victory in the current Dakar allowed the Frenchman to rise in the general classification from ninth to sixth position, but Seb continues to lose almost 24 minutes.
The Russian crew of Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov continues to demonstrate stability: today the rider with a sports license from Kyrgyzstan set the 26th time and remained 16th in the absolute category. The Lithuanian Vaidotas Žala occupied ninth position and his compatriot Benediktas Vanagas 14th.
“Dakar 2024”. SUV. General classification after four stages:
1. Yazid Al-Raji (Toyota) – 15:44.39. 2. Carlos Sainz (Audi) +00:04:19. 3. Nasser Al-Attiyah (“Prodrive”) +00:11:03. 4. Mattias Ekström (Audi) +00:17:42. 5. Lucas Moraes (Toyota) +00:19:31. 6. Sébastien Loeb (“Prodrive”) +00:23:50. …8. Stefan Peterhansel (Audi) +00:26:56. …sixteen. Denis Krotov (Toyota) +01:16:24.
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BICYCLE: two falls of the now former leader
Among the motorcyclists, José Ignacio Cornejo Florimo achieved his second victory in the current Dakar and thanks to this he is the leader of the general classification. The Honda rider gave Ross Branch four and a half minutes, causing a shake-up in the general classification. The gap is small: just over a minute. Branch was lucky to lose very little time, although he did fall off his motorcycle twice that day!
Ricky Brabec is less than five minutes behind, but further back the difference is more serious: the current Dakar winner, Kevin Benavidez, loses 20 minutes, and the third Honda representative in the top five, Adrien van Beveren, loses 22 At the same time, Benavidez is lucky that his wheel survived the day, despite the serious cut.
“Dakar 2024”. Motorcycles. General classification after four stages:
1. José Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda) – 17:27.13. 2. Ross Branch (“Hiro”) +1.15. 3. Ricky Brabec (Honda) +4.56. 4. Kevin Benavídez (KTM) +20.39. 5. Adrien van Beveren (Honda) +22.30.
Kevin Benavidez in the fourth stage of the Dakar
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
SSV&QUAD: Gochal Jr. escapes, Varga falls
In the prototype all-terrain vehicle classification, classification leader Eric Gochal had a great day: he won the special stage and significantly increased the overall lead. His father Marek now plays for half an hour and the American Mitchell Guthrie 36 minutes. Part of the problem is the penalties: Guthrie got 17 minutes, Cristina Gutiérrez got 15 and Kris Meek got an hour and a half.
“Dakar 2024”. Challenger. General classification after four stages:
1. Eric Gochal (Energylandia/Taurus Rally Team) – 17:18.25. 2. Marek Gochal (Energylandia/Taurus rally team) +30.55. 3. Mitchell Guthrie (Taurus Factory team) +36.23. 4. Austin Jones (Can-Am Factory team) +01:05.14 5. Francisco López Contardo (Can-Am Factory team) +01:06:38. 6. Cristina Gutiérrez (Red Bull Off-Road Jr Team USA / Taurus) +01:06.42.
In the standard off-road vehicle category, Joao Ferreira set the best time of the day. However, he still occupies seventh place in the overall standings, but is slowly closing the gap. Gerard Farrés Güell is still in first place, but today he let his pursuers get closer to him: Jerome de Sadeler played 10 minutes and is now only behind 14. Seven people hold on in 31 minutes: the whole fight is still ahead.
“Dakar 2024”. All terrain vehicles. General classification after four stages:
1. Gerard Farrés Güell (South Racing Can-Am) – 19:10:19. 2. Jerome De Sadeler (MMP / BRP) +14:33. 3. Rodrigo Varela (BBR/BRP Team) +17:03. 4. Cristiano Batista (Racing Sur Can-Am) +21.52. 5. Sarah Price (South Racing Can-Am) +23:52.
In the ATV category, it has been a bad day for Juraj Varga: the Slovakian, who started as the overall leader, lost almost 50 minutes today. Manuel Andujar has now taken the lead, 20 minutes ahead of the Frenchman Alexandre Giroud, although today the Argentine was only 32 seconds faster than Giroud.
“Dakar 2024”. quad bikes. General classification after four stages:
1. Manuel Andújar (7240 Team Dragon Rally Service / Yamaha) – 21:51:48. 2. Alexander Giroud (Yamaha Racing SMX Drag’On) +21:24. 3. Marcelo Medeiros (Taguatur Racing Team / Yamaha) +24:07. 4. Juraj Varga (Varga Motorsport Team / Yamaha) +47:14. 5. Laisvydas Kancius (Story Racing / Yamaha) +1:36.45.
TRUCK: van Casteren is ahead again
In the cargo category, the current Dakar winner, Janus van Kasteren, managed to fight back. Today the Dutchman rode the special eight and a half minutes faster than Ales Loprais and took first place in the general classification. The current marathon race is turning into a duel between van Kasteren and Lopreis, because his closest pursuer, Martin Macik, lost 35 minutes today and is now 45 minutes behind the general classification.
Let’s remember an important nuance: January 10 is Loprais’s birthday, and it turns out that this holiday usually brings Czechs not gifts or fun, but some kind of trouble. Let’s hope that this time the “holiday curse” does not work, for the sake of intrigue in cargo classification.
“Dakar 2024”. Trucks. General classification after four stages:
1. Janus van Kasteren (Iveco) – 17:45.17. 2. Alès Loprais (Prague) +5.17. 3. Martín Macik (Iveco) +45.43. 4. Pascal de Bar (Tatra) +1:15.08. 5. Jaroslav Valtr (Tatra) +1:27.22. 6. Mitchell van den Brink (Iveco) +1:28.39. 7. Michiel Becks (Iveco) +1:47.17.
WHATS NEXT?
On Wednesday the participants will have a suspiciously short special: only 118 kilometers of combat (with a link of 527). It is true that due to the early morning and the long route, the runners will arrive at the start already quite tired. In addition, the marathon rally will reach the Rub al-Khali desert: dunes and difficult navigation problems for sailors await us!
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