Marko Hanželic
Among motorists, the trio of veterans continued in the seventh stage, which was won by Carlos Sainz and now has a ten-minute advantage over Nasser Al-Attiyah in a Toyota Hilux. Stephane peterhansel has lost some time against both, but still has a good twenty minutes advantage over Al-Rajhi in fourth place.
After a day off, the rally turned into the second half today. Stage of Stream do Wadi Al-Dawasirja was 741 kilometers long, of which 546 kilometers were considered for rankings, which is the longest speed test of this year's performance. All in all, it was even more challenging for the runners as they had to overcome a number of sand dunes. He was the first to start this time Stephane peterhansel, but he found himself best on loose sand at first Al Attiyah, who managed to gain a few seconds of advantage over the competition in the third of the speed test. The local matador was also well on his way Yasir seaidan, who even led for a while, but the closer the ordeal got to the goal, the more they did buggies began to dominate again.
Carlos Sainz he had already taken the lead in the middle and caught Peterhansl, but due to poor visibility he did not risk overtaking. Much of the stage was covered by the competitors at full throttle, but it should be noted that the first three are a class of their own, as they only have Al-Rajhi in Orlando Newfoundland in fifth place less than an hour behind Sainz. Fernando Alonso he was just under eight minutes behind Sainz and finished the 7th stage in sixth.
Among motorcyclists, of course shaken by the death of Paul Goncalves, were even more pleased with Honda since Joan Barreda got a stage, his teammate Ricky brabec however, with a constant run that eventually brought him fourth place, he further increased his lead in the overall standings before Pablo Quintanilla in Ignacio Cornejo Frolim.
He subsequently swung to the top Kevin Benavidez, who credited him with the time he spent helping in the accident Paul Goncalves, the organizers did the same with Toby Price, which ended up in 7th place and is fourth overall. Simon Marčič finished today 's stage at 49. place with a good hour and a half behind, it’s total in 64th place. He progressed in his class in 15th place.
Among the truckers, the team driver is on the best path to overall victory Kamaz-Master, Andrei Karginov, which was three seconds faster than Dimitrija Sotnikova. Due to technical difficulties, the Dakar has already finished as the series winner in recent years, Edvard Nikolajev.
Eighth stage around Wadi Al-Dawasirja it will be another opportunity for those who like to walk the gas to the end. Last but not least, it awaits them 40 kilometers of perfect plane, before it all spills over into a more rocky landscape. Organizers subsequently canceled the 8th stage for motorcyclists and quad bikers due to the death of Paul Goncalves.
