Marko Hanželic
The fifth stage is valid for the hardest during the entire rally Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. The trail consisted of sandy roads and rocky sections that bring many dangers. It also played an important role navigation. Right at the start, a few racers got lost, thus losing important minutes on the na 456-kilometer stages.
Benavides also took the overall lead by winning the stage
He dealt with it the fastest among motorcyclists Kevin Benavidez (Honda) and thus took the lead in the overall standings. The Argentine crossed the finish line a minute before Jose Ignacio Corney (Honda), which means that Benavides in the overall standings lead by a difference of 2:31 minutes before Xavier de Soultrait (Husqvarna).
Argentine took the lead early on, Cornel however, he was constantly threatened. It's after 74 kilometers Cornel overtook de Soultrait and Benavides, who fell to third place. For a long time it seemed like it would Chilean took away a stage victory, but he did Benavides gained and overtook considerably in the final stage Crow. Despite all of the latter, he managed a big jump up the table as he progressed from ninth to third place.
Joan Barreda (Honda) had the hardest job as he had to stage start first. And if he was still in third place after the first section, he ended up 17 minutes behind, as he got lost in the meantime. He just sat down 17th place. Toby Price (KTM) finished the stage as the third, Ricky brabec (Honda) dropped out of the top ten of the overall standings.
Giniel de Villiers won, Carlos Sainz fell far behind
Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) won the 456-kilometer stage, considered the toughest of this year’s Dakar Rally. He led them to the finish line behind them Brian Baragwanath (Century) and arranged for a double South African celebration. Stephane peterhansel (Mini) placed third, extending the lead in the car standings for an extra stage.
From Villiers it took 5: 09.25 hours for the measured route, which consisted mainly of a sandy base and some rocky areas. His compatriot crossed the finish line just 58 seconds behind him and missed the stage victory only slightly. baragwanath has already taken second place in the prologue to provide a surprise on Dakar.
The legend of Dakar Carlos Sainz (Mini) was only ninth in trouble. The Spaniard was about 15 minutes slower than de Villiers and thus also lost contact with Peterhansel in Al-Attiyah, who are currently fighting for a common victory. Sainz in Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive) drove in the wrong direction at the start of the stage and lost important minutes.
It's among the trucks Dmitry Sotnikov already yesterday the leadership in the overall standings. In front of the second-ranked Belarus Vijazovic (MAZ) has a total of half an hour to go. He won today's stage Andrey Karginov (Kamaz).
