Dakar's final stage shortened to 166km
The final stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday will be shortened due to the construction of gas pipelines in the planned route.
Photo by: A.S.O.
The stage, which was originally scheduled to be a 244km test to wrap up the event, will now be reduced to 166km.
Works for new gas pipelines are being carried out by Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company in the vicinity of Haradh, renowned for its oil and gas-rich fields. The route for the 12th timed stage was planned to cross the area.
Competitors will instead complete a 130km link from the bivouac to the start of the timed stage, before heading to Qiddiyah.
That will be followed by a 20km exhibition - dubbed the Grand Prix de Qiddiyah - to finish the marathon. The results of that, however, will not count towards the overall classification of the rally.
Despite the significant change, Dakar director David Castera believes the final stage can still play a role in the final result of the event.
"We have changed the initial part of the stage, but the one that remains is the most complicated navigation," he told Motorsport.com. "I'm sure they will get lost. They can easily lose 5-10 minutes. A lot can happen tomorrow."
Mini's Carlos Sainz leads the rally by 10 minutes from Toyota's Nasser Al-Attiyah in the cars category, while Honda's Ricky Brabec holds a 13-minute lead over Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) in the bikes' classification.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments