ALULA, Saudi Arabia — These are still early days, but Henk Lategan may have already taken his first step toward glory.
Last year, he was locked in a high-stakes duel with Yazeed Al Rajhi until he faltered within sight of the line.
The South African, knowing that the Dakar is an indomitable beast, decided to throw caution to the wind in a bid to break the vicious cycle of puncture after puncture. In the end, fortune favored the bold, with Lategan driving his Toyota Hilux to his fifth career Dakar stage win, putting more than seven minutes into Nasser Al Attiyah and seizing the overall lead by 3′55″ over the Qatari.
Further back, the Goczał clan turned out in force, with the father, Marek, third at 14′15″, the son, Eryk, fourth at 17′36″, and the uncle, Michał, sixth at 19′53″.
The Poles will be delighted to have surrounded Sébastien Loeb, fifth at 17′54″. It is all starting to add up for the French driver, now eighth overall at 20 minutes, but he certainly has the skills to turn this around.
The Toyotas and Dacias are perched at the summit of the ranking, but the Ford Raptors remain within striking distance after making a splash yesterday, the American Mitch Guthrie flopped at the front of the field, haemorrhaging almost 44 minutes, but Mattias Ekström, third at 13′, and Carlos Sainz, fourth at 15′53″, are in a great position going into the latter half of the marathon-refuge stage, which they will begin 12th and 13th position.
It was the end of the road for the title holder in the Ultimate class, who had already delivered a subdued performance since the start of a Dakar, in which a question mark hung over his form. In the end, it was mechanical gremlins that did Yazeed Al Rajhi in as his Toyota Hilux gave up the ghost at km 234. The Saudi may resume the race after the marathon-refuge stage, but with no chance of fighting for the podium.
