RIYADH: France’s Stephane Peterhansel, a record 14-time winner of the Dakar Rally, crashed out of the 2023 edition on Friday as Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah won the sixth stage in his Toyota.
The 57-year-old Peterhansel, whose nickname is ‘Mr Dakar’ after eight car victories and six on a motorbike, “had an accident after 212km of the day’s special,” organizers said.
“His co-pilot Edouard Boulanger has been injured by the impact leaving him with pain in the back. He has been evacuated by the Dakar medical team to the hospital in Buraydah to undergo further examinations.”
Peterhansel told AFP that he did not remember the car landing such was the violence of the accident, suggesting that Boulanger had taken hold of the steering wheel before their car came to a halt.
Peterhansel’s Audi team-mate Carlos Sainz, a three-time former Dakar car winner, also suffered an accident at the same place.
Sainz and his co-pilot were unharmed, according to organizers, but any hopes of victory were washed away after hours spent trying to fix their Audi in the middle of the desert.
In the absence of Peterhansel and in light of Sainz’s problems, Al-Attiyah made no mistake in notching up his third stage victory despite mechanical problems of his own.
The defending champion won the stage 3min 29sec ahead of nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive), with South African Henk Lategan (Toyota) 8:52 adrift.
Lategan moves into second in the overall standings, 1hr 06min behind Al-Attiyah, with Brazilian Lucas Moraes (Overdrive) in third, a further 7min off the pace.
“It was a very tough stage, not easy,” said Al-Attiyah. “We really pushed a lot but for the last 40km we broke the steering pump, so we didn’t have any steering.
“We had a lot of oil coming out, but we’ll try to repair it now and then we’ll go to Riyadh.”
Loeb now stands sixth, 1hr 57min off the Qatari, but was left satisfied with his stage podium.
“It was a clean stage for us,” the Frenchman said. “We lost a little bit of time on some way points, but not too much, just like two or three minutes.
“When you see what happened on the stage, I think in the end that we did a good stage, with second time overall. It was better than the previous ones and I think we’ve made a good step in the general rankings, so that’s not too bad.”
Luciano Benavides won the sixth stage of the motorbike section to make it seven different winners for seven days of racing.
The Argentinian Husqvarna rider beat teammate Skyler Howes home by 0.56sec, with Red Bull KTM’s Toby Price in third, at 2:28.
The result saw Howes increase his lead over his direct pursuers, whose positions have not changed on the provisional podium. Price now trails by 3:31, with Benavides 7:01 behind.
It was announced that Saturday’s motor-cycling stage will be canceled after heavy, cold rain caused delays Friday.
“In view of the very late return of very tired bikers, and due to the rain, the event is canceled in this category,” said race boss David Castera.
Saturday’s stage will be a truncated affair for the car competitors, raced over 288km toward Al Duwadimi.
Dakar legend Peterhansel crashes out, Al-Attiyah wins stage six — weather hits Saturday’s stage
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Dakar legend Peterhansel crashes out, Al-Attiyah wins stage six — weather hits Saturday’s stage
- It was announced that Saturday’s motor-cycling stage will be canceled after heavy, cold rain caused delays Friday
NEOM concede at the death for the second week in a row as Al-Taawoun salvage late draw
- NEOM narrowly lost to Al-Nassr 1-0 last weekend after Mohamed Simakan scored an injury-time winner
- Al-Taawoun followed up with a late equalizer by Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi to deny them three points
RIYADH: The Saudi Pro League returned for Matchday 26, with the table beginning to take its final shape as the season enters its final quarter. The title contenders kick off on Friday and Saturday, but Thursday’s action focused on a clash between upper mid-table sides NEOM and Al-Taawoun, alongside three relegation-battlers — Al-Najma, Damac and Al-Kholood — attempting to improve their standings.
In Tabuk, NEOM played out a 2-2 draw with Al-Taawoun, this season’s surprise package under the returning Pericles Chamusca. After a brilliant start to the campaign that saw them spend much of the season in the top four, a poor run of just one win in their last eight games has followed.
Al-Taawoun’s late equaliser was vital in their bid to maintain a spot in the top five. With Al-Ittihad lurking just three points behind and yet to play this weekend, every point matters for the Wolves of Qassim. Regardless, it has become a painful second half of the season for Chamusca’s side, as they now sit 12 points behind the top four.
After a heroic performance from Luis Maximiano against Al-Nassr last weekend, NEOM were unfortunate to leave Riyadh empty-handed after conceding at the death. There were still plenty of positives from the defeat, as Christophe Galtier’s squad appear to have finally hit second gear this season.
Calm and collected against Al-Nassr, they repeated the same approach against Al-Taawoun. Knowing their opponents thrive on space in the transition, NEOM prevented them from accessing wingers Marin Petkov and Biel, leaving star striker Roger Martinez isolated for most of the match.
Amadou Koné and Abdoulaye Doucouré did their part to disrupt the centre of Al-Taawoun’s block, with the former driving forward and the latter drifting in between the lines to create the opener. In the 23rd minute, Al-Taawoun’s defence were pulled apart as Luciano Rodríguez met Doucouré’s precise through ball to slot home.
NEOM maintained their composure throughout the match, but it took a wonder strike from Martinez to bring the visitors level in the 70th minute, the Colombian producing a superb strike from distance.
It only took six minutes for NEOM to respond. Saïd Benrahma broke down the Al-Taawoun defence once again, releasing Alexandre Lacazette for a powerful finish to restore the hosts’ lead.
Despite the strong performance from NEOM, they ultimately fell victim to another late setback. Substitute Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi surged down the flank in stoppage time before cutting inside and curling a precise finesse shot beyond Maximiano to salvage a point.
Elsewhere, Damac continued their resurgence under Fabio Carrille with a 3-1 victory over Al-Najma, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table. The win moves Damac six points clear of Al-Riyadh in the relegation zone, while Al-Najma sit 14 points from safety with eight matches remaining.
Meanwhile, Al-Hazem secured a late victory after Abdulaziz Al-Dwehe netted an 86th-minute winner in a 2-1 triumph over Al-Kholood. It was a frustrating night for the Saudi Pro League’s all-time leading scorer Omar Al-Somah, who missed a penalty for the winners in the 60th minute.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Fayha hosting Al-Ettifaq and Al-Riyadh welcoming Al-Ittihad at 10:00pm. The headline fixture of the evening — kicking off at the same time — sees second-placed Al-Ahli travel to face fourth-placed Al-Qadsiah. Victory for Al-Ahli against tough opposition would strengthen their title push, while defeat for Al-Qadsiah could effectively end their unlikely championship hopes.
