Nasser Al-Attiyah has fought back in the 2021 Dakar to take the Stage 2 win in his 4X4 Toyota Gazoo Racing HiLux and putting him in third place overall.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing HiLux of Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken the Stage 2 win in the 2021 Dakar ahead of the 2WD Minis of Stephane Peterhansel (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) and his teammate Carlos Sainz.
“The pace from start to finish, no mistake at all, we did a good job and I am quite happy,” Al-Attiyah said at the end of the stage. “It’s still a long way, but it’s a good start.”
At the completion of Stage 2, Stephane Peterhansel has moved into the overall lead ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz. “It was a beautiful stage,” Peterhansel said. “The desert was really more open. This morning, at the beginning, there was a bit of stress… the car was really heavy, so the priority was not to get stuck (in the soft dunes). I need to say, we did really good navigation… a really good job.”
In the bikes, yesterday’s stage winner, Aussie Toby Price, didn’t fare so well on Stage 2, finishing the stage in 28th and dropping to 15th overall. “Today’s stage was difficult to lead out… around kilometre 340, I started to have an issue with my rear tank, the fuel pump or something wasn’t working, so then I had to conserve fuel a bit because I only had the front tanks of fuel, so a little tough and we’ll try and work on that this afternoon.”
Joan Barreda Bort (Monster Energy Honda Team 2021) took the Stage 2 win in the bikes and is now in the overall lead ahead of his teammate, and last year’s winner, Ricky Brabec.
In the Trucks, Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz – Master) took the stage win and leads overall.
The 2021 Dakar runs from 2-15 January and you can catch daily updates at Red Bull TV from 5am AEDT or on SBS from 5.30pm AEDT.
