HAIL, Saudi Arabia — It was already evident that Mitch Guthrie’s performances owed nothing to chance. The American driver provided clear confirmation of his talent by winning a second stage of the Dakar Rally in the Ultimate class, two days after his first victory.
After 371 kilometers against the clock, Guthrie completed the return leg of the marathon stage just four seconds behind Nani Roma but the Spaniard was hit with a one-minute speeding penalty. As a result, the two teammates have flown the Ford flag high in the top two places, with another Raptor completing the day’s podium, driven by Martin Prokop, who is definitely improving with his change of vehicle this year.
Henk Lategan was confronted with a navigational challenge this morning on the second part of the marathon stage for which he opened the way without the tracks of the bikes. It was the trickiest task of the week for the South African but he finally accomplished it with a certain amount of efficiency: despite losing 12’43’’ on the way to Hail to Guthrie, the (very isolated) Toyota team leader has hung on to the lead in the overall rankings.
In a similar situation and hot on the heels of Lategan from the start, Nasser Al Attiyah also lost time in his Dacia but only 3’17’’ to the stage winner before a special tomorrow that is deemed to be crucial.
In the overall rankings, the insolent health of the Raptors was made especially clear, with four representatives in the top 6: Mattias Ekstrom 5’38’’ behind the leader, Nani Roma 6’59’’ down, Carlos Sainz trailing by 8’33’’ and Guthrie à 16’23’’ behind.
Nevertheless, the positions suggest a particularly open battle for the final special of the week, covering 300 kilometers of dunes. In 7th and 8th position in the overall rankings, the Dacias driven by Lucas Moraes (17’11’’ behind) and especially Sébastien Loeb (trailing by 17’55’’) are both capable of getting back into the game.
