On January 12, the 2020 Dakar Rally ended the competition for the seventh stage. In the car group, Carlos Sainz made another victory and won the stage championship in 4 hours, 18 minutes and 23 seconds. Attia fell behind At 2 minutes and 12 seconds, Peterhansel ranked third, Alonso ranked 6th, and Han Wei ranked 14th. On the overall score list, the three giants of Sainz, Attia and Peterhansel continued to lead. Han Wei and Liao Min rose to No. 10, and Alonso ranked No. 15.
After a precious day of adjustment, the second half of the Dakar Rally kicked off in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The seventh stage was from Riyadh to Ardawas. The total length of the stage was 741 kilometers, of which the special stage was 546 kilometers. The length of the special stage is the longest day in the competition, which is quite a test for the drivers and co-drivers.
In the car race, Chinese team Han Wei and Liao Min finished 14th with a time of 4 hours, 38.05 seconds, and another Chinese team, Jin Jianyun and Ma Wenke, ranked 27th.
In the overall score list, Carlos Sainz continued to top the list with 27 hours, 49 minutes and 14 seconds, Al Attia ranked second 10 minutes behind, and Peterhansel ranked third 19 minutes behind. With the recent steady performance, Chinese players Han Wei and Liao Min have risen to the 10th place in the overall score list, Alonso is ranked 15th, and Jin Jianyun is temporarily ranked 25th.
In the motorcycle group, the Honda team took the top two. Argentine driver Benavidez won the stage championship in 4 hours, 36 minutes and 22 seconds, Spanish driver Porter ranked second, and Chinese driver Zackel Yakpu ranked 58th. Zhao Hongyi ranked 68th and Zhang Min finished 73rd.
On the overall score list, Ricky Babick of the Honda team still ranks first, and Quintalia ranks second. As for Chinese drivers, Yakepu from Xinjiang ranked 48th, Zhang Min ranked 58th, and Zhao Hongyi ranked 72nd.
In the four-wheel motorcycle group, the French driver Simon West won the championship in 6 hours, 2 minutes and 52 seconds. On the overall score list, the famous player Casale continued to maintain an advantage of more than half an hour. In the truck group, the Kamaz team continued its dominant performance. Kardinov won the stage championship in 5 hours, 1 minute and 2 seconds. Stonykov and Sbarov ranked second and third. The total score On the list, Kardinov ranked first. In the SSV group, Red Bull Racing’s Sidbrand won the stage championship in 5 hours, 26 minutes and 35 seconds, and American driver Cory temporarily ranked first in the overall score list.
There was also sad news during the race that day. No. 8 grape driver Paulo Gonçalves fell off the car at 276 km, suffered a cardiac arrest and lost consciousness. Australian driver Toby, who was first discovered, pressed the red alarm and implemented rescue together with other drivers. The official rescue team was alerted at 10:08, and a medical helicopter arrived at the accident site at 10:16. After being rescued at the scene, he was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Of the 25 participants who have died since 1979, 20 were motorcycle riders, so motorcyclists are the group that faces the danger most directly in the Dakar Rally, and they are more like a group of warriors in the race. The last time such misfortunes occurred was in Argentina at the 2015 South American edition of the Dakar.
(picture and text from the Internet)
