Dakar update: Stage 6 - Honda and Kamaz lose important drivers in monster stage

10 January 2020 at 18:27

Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

In the sixth stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally, the contestants hit the open desert for the first time. Rocky paths have been replaced by dunes and sand as far as the eye can see. The stage between Ha'il and capital Riyadh was 477 kilometers long.

Honda now lose a contender

For the first time in 20 years, Honda look like they can dethrone KTM as the winners in the bike class. Yesterday, KTM lost one of their best drivers in Sam Sunderland while Honda ran away with the win. The same happened today. Ricky Brabec took P1 for the third time this year and extends his lead at the top.

It wasn't all smiles in the Honda camp, however. Just like happened to KTM yesterday, they lost one of their main contenders. While Kevin Benavides is still continuing his rally, he lost three-and-a-half hours in the final part of the stage, ending his chances of winning the whole thing.

It's all about the landing, right? @JohnnyAubert gave us a bit of a scare here but he keeps going #Dakar2020 pic.twitter.com/GALfdQLG5b
— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 9, 2020

Outside of the top 10, Johnny Aubert had more bad luck. As happened yesterday, he fell hard, but he couldn't continue this time. He suffered injuries on his head and his ribs and needed to go to the hospital. It happened 2 kilometers before the finish line as well, making it even harder to swallow for Aubert.

Bike standings

	Driver	Constructor	Time
1.	Ricky Brabec (USA)	Honda	23h43m47s
2.	Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)	Husqvarna	+00:20:56
3.	Toby Price (AUS)	KTM	+00:25:39
4.	Jose Ignacio Cornejo (CHL)	Honda	+00:25:41
5.	Joan Barreda Bort (ESP)	Honda	+00:32:58

Very tight at the top

Among the cars, the close racing continues. Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al Attiyah and Stephane Peterhansel have been fighting for top spot for days. Between Sainz and Peterhansel, the difference has been just a few seconds in some stages, and it was the Spanish veteran who was quickest today. He slightly extends his advantage at the top, although it's still very close.

Yazeed al Rajhi has been fourth for what feels like an eternity. He usually keeps up with the top three very well but tails off in the final stages, losing valuable time to the podium places. Behind Al Rajhi, Fernando Alonso had another strong day. The two-time F1 champion and Dakar rookie was sixth quickest on the day but is still 16th in the standings due to mechanical problems in the first days, which cost him over two hours.

Car standings

	Driver	Constructor	Time
1.	Carlos Sainz (ESP)	Mini	23h33m03s
2.	Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT)	Toyota	+00:07:48
3.	Stephane Peterhansel (FRA)	Mini	+00:16:20
4.	Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU)	Toyota	+00:36:48
5.	Orlando Terranova (ARG)	Mini	+00:43:54

Kamaz continue domination

Although a lot can still happen in the second week, it does look like Kamaz have the victory wrapped up. Belarussian driver Siarhei Viazovich was able to keep up in the first days, but the Russians have been 10 or 20 minutes quicker per stage in recent days.

Andrey Karginov has impressed in particular, bagging multiple stage wins already. He was the quickest truck from start to finish again today, building on his lead in the standings over teammate Anton Shibalov in second place, who is now almost 20 minutes behind.

There was some bad news too for Kamaz, as top driver Nikolaev retired from the rally today. He wasn't really competing for the win anymore but called it quits today, ending his adventure. He will officially not be defending his title.

Eduard Nikolaev, winner of the last 3 Dakars, has gone through a nightmare on stage 5 and quickly hit a standstill on day 6

He says he can't repair his truck #Dakar2020 pic.twitter.com/I2lNiS7KIC
— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 10, 2020

Truck standings

	Driver	Constructor	Time
1.	Andrey Karginov (RUS)	Kamaz	25h06m20s
2.	Anton Shibalov (RUS)	Kamaz	+00:19:14
3.	Siarhei Viazovich (BLR)	Maz	+00:36:30
4.	Ales Loprais (CZE)	Praga	+01:51:13
5.	Martin Macik (CZE)	Iveco	+01:59:27