43rd Dakar Rally (Round 9) – Abandoned Sebastien Loeb, Toby Price in Hospital

The real HORROR was experienced by the famous French rally crew at the 43rd Dakar Rally. Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena returned to the bivouac late last night, in the eighth stage, and definitely ended the real torture at the marathon in Saudi Arabia…

The great Seb and his faithful friend and co-driver Daniel could, after this competition in the desert, open, say, in Paris, a mechanic’s workshop for tuning traps and dismantling tires. The two spent more time in futile attempts to repair broken trap forks, changing bearings and waiting for trucks with spare parts, than in overcoming dunes and maneuvering the steering wheel. A few punctured tires and catastrophic mistakes by Daniel Elena in navigation threw this experienced crew even to the 42nd position in the general classification, with a gap of more than 13 hours behind the leader !!! Yes no one even dreamed of punishment from their compatriots, from the French organization ASO. Loeb received penalties for driving at 107 km / h, and the limit was 30 km / h, which is the Dakar, a rally with complicated navigation and a million obstacles. That is why all those who reach the goal receive a standing ovation.

It all started for Loeb on the first special when the red monster of 3.5 liters, from the Bahrain raid Xtream team, took only 17th place. This was followed by the placement in the speed tests on the 6th and 7th place, then on the 20th, and the real fiasco arrived in the sixth stage when Sebastien Loeb reached the finish line as 54. However, it is fair to say that it also contributed to the huge time lag. complete delay of the truck with spare parts which was also lost in the sandy expanse. Loeb and Elena waited as long as NINE hours for help in the middle of a dark desert.

The nine-time world champion, 46-year-old Sebastien Loeb, now has a good rest and then dedicates himself to the next competition, which starts in March this year. It is an Extreme E Championship (a project with electric off-road vehicles in Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Greenland, Brazil and Argentina), with the team of Lewis Hamilton X44. In the Spark Odissey 21, our partner will be the Spaniard Kristina Gutierrez, who rides a buggy very successfully at this 43rd Dakar Rally and who after 15 years became the first woman to win a special at the Dakar, after Utah Kleinschmidt.

The French adore Loeb and are disappointed with the resignation of the great champion, but they are happy for the French from Burgundy or Burgundy, in eastern France) which is a leader in the car category. Of course, it is about 55-year-old Stefan Peterhansel, who won the special exam today and thus SIGNIFICANTLY increased his advantage over the dangerous rival, Nasser Al Ati… .at 17.50 minutes… .. it seems that 14 Dakar is on the horizon victory. Peterhansel is greatly supported by his famous wife, German Andrea Meyer Peterhansel, a former fantastic motorcyclist, also a driver of both cars and trucks…

Unfortunately, the bad news came from the motorcycling class. The fast Australian, Toby Price, the two-time Dakar winner had a severe fall je .he gave up and was airlifted to a hospital in Tabuk, for the sake of filming… He fell and severely injured his shoulder Argentine Luciano Benavides, so he was also transferred to a hospital in Tabuk.

Pierre Charpin has been in the hospital since two days ago with a severe head injury … he was in a coma, but the doctors are hoping for a good outcome. Santos, an Indian, a member of the HERO team, for which Paulo Goncalves, who died last year, was also transferred to the hospital, was recently transferred to the hospital.

Goncalves’ son-in-law, the Portuguese Joachim Rodriguez, is holding up well on this Dakar and takes the 16th place pod.

We end this series of injured, with the belief that this is the end of the news about the injuries, with the Italian Maurizio Gerini, who fell in front of the goal. He refused medical help and reached the end of the stage, but later he had to see a doctor.

Kevin Benavides from Argentina won the speed test in this ninth stage, but, in general, the young Chilean Nacho Cornejo is still leading with a 10-minute advantage.

Our representative, Gabor Sagmeister from Subotica, has achieved the best performance so far on this Dakar. He arrived at the finish line in the dark and spent NINE AND A HALF hours on a motorcycle today. He was 67th in the special with + 4.47.20 hours behind the winner. In general, he climbed to 63rd place, while in his class he is in 17th position. We keep his fists tight… THREE more stages until the end ili .or what Gabor would jokingly say: “God forbid it’s better”

In quads, Argentine Manuel Anduhar still leads with an advantage of 19.28 minutes, in the class of light vehicles, Chilean Lopez Contardo is first in general with a stock of 12.25 minutes over the competition, and in truckers, a miraculous trio from Russia, with drivers Sotnikov, Shibalov and Mardeev, takes first three places.

Wednesday is the 10th stage, 583 kilometers with a special of 342 kilometers. Recall that the 43rd Dakar ends on Friday, January 15, 2021.

Djordje Djenić – Mojsvetbrzine.rs