HAIL — The contestants in the Saudi Dakar Rally 2021 rested Saturday, in the city of Hail after completing six different stages of the race, passing through many regions of the Kingdom, amid great and close competition in the various 6 categories that the rally includes this year. The rally is being held for the second year in a row in Saudi Arabia.

After the first half of the stages of the race has passed, the contestants are preparing to do battle in the second and final half of the race. The rest day in Hail is a valuable opportunity to all take stock of their situation and properly plan the strategy for the next stages, and also to maintain and repair vehicles before the start of the seventh-round tomorrow from Hail to Sakaka.

Reviewing the previous stages, the form of competition has begun to take shape to some extent. In the car category the conflict rages between the French veteran Stephane Peterhansel, the former Dakar Rally champion 13 times, and behind him comes the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, followed by the Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, title holder, who is third in the overall standings and 40 minutes behind Peterhansel.

In the motorcycle category, Australian Toby Price returned to the top of the general standings, after a fierce sixth stage that ended in him coming seventh, while Argentine Kevin Benavides fell to second place, and Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo finished third.

And all the possibilities remain in the motorcycle category, as Bryce, the leader, is only 20 minutes apart from last year's champion Ricky Brabeck, who is currently in the 13th place.

The quad bike category is witnessing an Argentine domination in the first and second places, with Nicolas Cavelliaso leading the general ranking, and his compatriot Manuel Andojar in second place, followed by French Alexander Giroud in third place, however, Chilean Giovanni Enrico is still a strong competitor, coming fourth with less than five minutes from Giro.

In the light desert vehicles category, the 18-year-old American rookie Seth Quintero, continues to make his name in Dakar after becoming the youngest contestant to win a stage in the Grand International Rally throughout its long history.

Polish Aaron Domzala tops the overall standings in this category, 40 seconds behind is American Austin Jones, who comes second, with American rookie Seth Quentro following them.

The Russian teams dominate the truck category, occupying the first three places in the overall standings, with Dmitry Sotnikov's team occupying the first place, then Anton Shibalov's team, second, and the Airat Mardev team in third place.

The South Racing Can-Am Team has enjoyed a superb first half of the 2021 Dakar Rally. All 12 of the South Racing-entered cars are still running after six special stages with Polish driver Aron Domżala currently leading the SSV T4 category and South Racing-built cars winning the Prologue and five of the six timed tests.

The Germany-based team can look back on a dominant first week of racing across the most demanding terrain that the Saudi Arabian desert could throw at competitors.

Francisco Lopez and fellow Chilean navigator Juan Pablo Latrach led the SSV T4 event outright from the second stage and picked up daily victories on stages three and five in their Copec-supported Can-Am before losing over an hour following an accident over a sand dune on day six.

That delay dropped the 2019 winner down to third overall and lifted Domżala and navigator Maciej Marton into an outright lead of just 40 seconds in the first of four Monster Energy Can-Am Team cars. Domżala won the fourth stage and has never been outside the top three since the Prologue.

Speaking after the demanding fifth stage, the leading Pole said: “The last three stages were for tourists compared to that stage. It was really technical with hard dunes and tricky navigation. We’re in a great battle with Chaleco (Lopez). In the dunes he has incredible speed but there are still a lot of stages to go.”

The marathon stage, which will start tomorrow from Hail to Sakaka, will extend for a distance of 737 kilometers, of which 471 kilometers are a special stage, and because it is a marathon stage, entering the areas designated for working on vehicles will be forbidden for anyone other than the competitors. — SG