Sunday’s second stage of the Dakar Rally was a big one for Stéphane Peterhansel. Nicknamed “Mr. Dakar” for his record 14 overall victories in the world’s most prestigious rally raid, the Frenchman added to his legend by scoring his 50th stage win in cars on the 463km/288-mile stage from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi, tying him with Ari Vatanen for the most Dakar stage wins of all time. He has 83 Dakar stage wins in all and is also the joint record holder of the motorcycle category together with Cyril Despres, with 33 apiece.
The road to Al Duwadimi, which contained the first dune fields of this year’s course, took the teams into the geographical heart of Saudi Arabia. The dunes were not tough or numerous enough to shake up the standings; instead, the entrants had to put their navigational flair to good use to get out of one maze after another.
Peterhansel brought his Audi RS Q e-tron home 29s ahead of a resurgent Sebastién Loeb, who rebounded from a poor start to the rally with his Prodrive Hunter. The win came as a surprise to Peterhansel, who’d been cruising to victory before being hit by a couple of setbacks in the closing portion of the stage.
“I think stage 2 of the last Dakar is still living rent-free in my head. We were driving on eggshells, but somehow, we still had two flat tires in the final 30 kilometers,” related the bemused Peterhansel. “Heaven knows how it happened. We really weren’t going fast, and when Hołowczyc overtook me, I was unable to follow him. How to drive a heavy car on stones is beyond me.”