He Dakar Rally is back this Tuesday in Al-Ula (Saudi Arabia) – where the competition started 11 days ago – with the ninth stage contested, again on a very long day, with 436 kilometers of special and 225 links Laia Sanz passed without harm, despite its difficulty. One from KH-7 and his co-pilot, the Italian Maurizio Gerinisaved one of the hardest exam days with a 21st overall place25’53” behind the first, and in third position in T1.2, less than two minutes behind the second, the Frenchman Christian Lavieille.
There are only three days left before the end of the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally and Laia Sanz’s goal is to maintain her excellent classification in the general classification, where for the third consecutive day she is in 15th position, and fight for a place on the podium in the 4×2 category, which is currently on track with its provisional third place. Once he improved in the rest of the race, the Corbera de Llobregat (Barcelona) man will try to attack the second position, which he has occupied for several days and is now 7 minutes and 10 seconds behind. .distance.
On Tuesday, Sanz and Gerini had “a problem-free day,” commented the Spanish woman. “The Astara Team resolved the power failure last night that we had in the early part yesterday, and we were able to concentrate on driving,” he added.
The difficulty this time was finding a rhythm on a special where the sand, the undulating terrain and the presence of many rocks prevented what seemed like a day of speed.
“For me, It turned out to be one of the most physical stages, and also hard on the car, of this entire Dakar. It was a trap day, as we expected it to be faster and it took us a bit to find the balance between speed and caution. In the end, I think it turned out to be a positive day, and we are happy because we didn’t risk anything. In the last 70 or 100 kilometers there were a lot of rocks and we slowed down, because we prioritized taking care of the mechanics. There are only three episodes left and we have to continue like this,” said the KH-7 woman.
This Wednesday, the Dakar will reach its tenth stage, a loop that starts and ends in Al-Ula that will have a total of 612 kilometers, of which 371 will be timed.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
