Dakar 2020: Mathieu Serradori Wins First Dakar Rally Stage; Karginov Blasts Ahead In Trucks

Jan 13, 2020
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Carlos Sainz’s lead in the cars’ class takes a massive hit

Following the aftermath of Paulo Goncalves’ death, Dakar organisers saw it fit to cancel Stage 8 for motorcycles and quads. Hero MotoSports has pulled out of the rally to show support and solidarity with the Goncalves family in this troubled time. This meant that only the cars, buggies and trucks would go on to tackle the 477km-long Stage 8.

Cars
Mathieu Serradori picked up his career first Dakar stage victory in his Century buggy. This is Serradori’s fifth Dakar Rally, his second in the cars category. The Frenchman was a little over 4 minutes quicker than Toyota’s Fernando Alonso, who has been improving in the latter stages of the rally. Argentine Orlando Terranova secured the final spot on the podium.

However, it was a day of damage limitation for the rally leaders. Carlos Sainz had to open the day’s proceedings, soon after which he was caught up by challengers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Stephane Peterhansel. Peterhansel was the highest placed finisher amongst the trio, in ninth. Al-Attiyah was two spots behind him with Sainz a further three positions adrift.

Thus, Sainz’s lead over Al-Attiyah in the overall standings has been cut down to 6 minutes 40 seconds, while Peterhansel trails behind the Spaniard by 13 minutes 09 seconds.

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Trucks
After winning by a narrow margin on Stage 7, Andrey Karginov hammered home to an undisputed victory on Stage 8, winning by nearly 6 minutes. Teammate Anton Shibalov and Praga’s Ales Loprais completed the podium. Karginov now holds an unassailable lead of over 27 minutes on Shibalov in the overall standings. Third-placed Siarhei Viazovich is over an hour behind Karginov, which almost guarantees the Dakar title will remain with Kamaz.

Motorcycles and quads will join the field once again on Stage 9 with a relatively short 410km timed section. Tomorrow’s stage will be particularly tricky as it has equal parts sand, soil, and rocky terrain.

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