Al Attiya/Baumel remain in control at Dakar 2019, with three tages to go - Stage 7 Highlights

  • 5 years ago
Stage 7 of the world’s toughest automotive race, the Dakar Rally, promised to be the harshest of the 2019 edition – and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The Dakar truly bared its teeth with a 323 km-long test that saw MINI’s Stephane Peterhansel (France) close the gap to Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel by 11:58.

Despite the Frenchman’s victory on Stage 7, Al Attiya/Baumel still lead the rally in the overall standings, and have a buffer of 29:16 over Peterhansel. Nani Roma (Spain), in another MINI, is in third, 37:59 behind the Toyota Hilux crews. Sebastien Loeb, who had been on a charge over the last three stages, lost significant time due to electric problems in his Peugeot today, dropping down to fourth place in the standings as a result.

This allowed the MINI brigade to catch up with the Toyota Hilux mid-way through the stage, and Al Attiyah planned to follow them through the dune section in order to help with his own navigation.

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