Looking to recapture the truck race title he won in 2013 is Eduard Nikolaev (RUS) of Team Kamaz Master. The Russian trucker did his chances of success the power of good on Stage 10 as he set the day’s fastest time. The result sees Nikolaev leapfrog his Kamaz team-mate Dmitry Sotnikov (RUS) who finished second on today’s stage and now holds the runners-up spot in the general classification. Ayrat Mardeev (RUS) came home third on the stage to give Kamaz a richly deserved 1-2-3 result.
1-2-3 results have been common place for Team Peugeot Total during this edition of motorsport’s toughest test of endurance. Peugeot’s latest clean sweep saw Sébastien Loeb (FRA) take the stage's scratch time with team-mates Cyril Despres (FRA) and Stéphane Perterhansel (FRA) following him home.
With two stages remaining Loeb leads the car race although this result is subject to change this evening once Peterhansel is given back the time he spent assisting injured Slovenian biker Simon Marčič on Stage Ten. The closest challenger to third place Despres is Nani Roma (ESP) who lies nearly an hour behind the former biker in fourth overall.
Over on the bikes there was another assured performance by Sam Sunderland (GBR) who continues to break new ground while leading the race. Red Bull KTM Factory Team’s British biker got his tactics spot on to maintain a lead of 30 minutes at the head of the race. Sunderland’s KTM team-mate Matthias Walkner (AUT) can also be pleased with his day’s work as he climbed onto the overall podium to hold second place overnight.
In the quad race Ignacio Casale (CHL) continues to take the fight to category leader Sergey Karyakin (RUS). It was the Russian setting the pace today, but Casale hung on to eventually concede a little more than 10 minutes to his rival. There’s now 21m05s separating runner-up Casale and race leader Karyakin.
Tomorrow brings with it the penultimate stage as the Dakar departs San Juan for Rio Cuarto. With close to 300km to be raced over a mixture of dunes and fast WRC-style tracks. Racers will be faced with the tactical decision of holding the positions they’ve all worked so hard for or risking it all for a leap up the rankings.
Quotes
Sam Sunderland #14:
“It was another tough one with so many riverbeds at the beginning it was tough to follow the correct one. I made a few mistakes before the refuel and that got me stressed out because I didn’t know where the other bikes were. Then at the refuel there were only three bikes there so I knew my mistakes hadn’t been too costly. Then on the second part of the stage I rode at a reasonable pace without taking any risks. I’ve never finished the Dakar so to be here on day 11 and to be leading is a dream come true. To have my friend Matthias (Walkner) here with me as well is great because we have both worked hard and been through it a bit to get here.”
“It was a hot day today but I dealt with it fine because I have been preparing a long time for this race. I’ve worked hard to be ready for the cold and the heat that you have to deal with at this race. I think I’m the only rider who ends a Dakar fatter than I was at the beginning because I’m making sure I eat a lot to keep my strength. This is keeping me strong. Also taking on fluids is the thing you must do when you get a hot day like today. To prepare for the altitude I have a special tent in my house where I slept in the build up to the rally. In addition to this I went for one week to a glacier in Austria to sleep at 2,500 metres above sea level. When I was there I was taking treks to over 3,000 metres to be as prepared as possible for what was to come. Because of my broken femur I had more time to prepare specifically for the Dakar. I was able to spend a lot of time at the Red Bull Diagnostics & Training Center where we worked hard with total focus on these two weeks in South America.”
“We did our best on the first section. I pushed really hard from the first to the last metre of the second portion of the day, so I couldn't do much better. I think it was impossible to go any faster. I tried all I could. We will see. I think we lost a lot on the previous section, so I was really angry and I pushed and tried everything on this one. I've no idea about the times, so I cannot say anything.”
“We were quite happy this morning after good navigation. The rhythm was slow and fast and slow and fast like we were going through a labyrinth. It was demanding on any kind of terrain that we had. In the first part we took six minutes from Sébastien Loeb but in the second part I think he was fighting for the lead so he demonstrated the speed he has. Really impressive from him. We’re also happy with the job we have done.”
“Today was really complicated with lots of navigation in the riverbeds, it seemed like everybody was completely lost. There was a biker in front of me reversing and when he saw me he hit the brakes but we collided. His leg was broken but he was still conscious. We stayed with him until the medical helicopter arrived. After that it was difficult to drive with a good speed. Now we wait for the calculation to see exactly what is gap between us and Sébastien (Loeb). The main thing I’m interested in is getting news to know how the biker is doing.”
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