Dakar 2020: Honda Leads The Bike Charge, Peterhansel Reigns Supreme In Cars

Jan 9, 2020
Views : 577
2 min read

The overall lead does not change hands for the first time in this rally

Stage four was the longest day of the rally so far with the competitors having to negotiate 453km of competitive distance. The day saw the participants cross rocky terrain and the volcanic region of Harrat al ‘Uwayrid.

Bikes
The Honda Racing Team has been on quite a roll of late. Chilean rider Jose Ignacio Cornejo was the star on the day, leading teammate Kevin Benavides to yet another stage 1-2. It seemed though that KTM’s Sam Sunderland had stormed his way to the victory in the latter stages of the day but a 5-minute time penalty was imposed on him for speeding in a controlled zone. This promoted Jose and Kevin up to the top two spots with stage 2 winner Ross Branch ending the day in third.

This leaves team HRC in firm control of the rally with Ricky Brabec leading Benavides and Cornejo. Defending champion Toby Price is just 12 minutes off the leader with Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla fifth overall.

Cars
There is a reason why he is called Mr Dakar, as Stephane Peterhansel became the second man in Dakar history to win a stage on three continents, after Giniel de Villiers achieved the same feat by winning stage two. Peterhansel was engaged in a three-way fight for the win with last two years’ Dakar winners, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz, hot on his heels.

The stage victory propels Peterhansel up to third in the cars category. He trails current leader, Sainz, by 11 minutes 42 seconds. Al-Attiyah is three minutes off Sainz as the action heats up heading into stage 5.

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

Trucks
Perennial favourites of the trucks category, Kamaz bagged a 1-2-3 finish on stage 4. Anton Shibalov won yet another stage leading teammates Andriy Karginov and Dmitry Sotnikov to the finish line at Al-‘Ula. Multiple-times winner Eduardo Nikolaev doesn’t seem to have the rhythm as he has had in the past, managing only a 11th best time on the day.

Karginov still leads the category with Maz’ Siarhei Viazovich 10 minute 43 seconds behind the leader. Stage 4 winner Shibalov is not far away from the other two, as he is a further 4 minutes 15 seconds off the leader.

Suggested Reads: