Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA
Breaking news

Dakar's marathon stage slashed due to bad weather

The 2017 Dakar Rally's marathon stage from La Paz to Uyuni has had its timed section cut in half to 161km due to adverse weather conditions.

Flooding at the Bivouac in Oruro

Flooding at the Bivouac in Oruro

Honda Racing

#3 Husqvarna Factory Racing: Pablo Quintanilla
#15 Monster Energy Honda Team: Michael Metge
Flooding at the Bivouac in Oruro
Flooding at the Bivouac in Oruro
#300 Peugeot Sport Peugeot 3008 DKR: Stéphane Peterhansel, Jean-Paul Cottret
#309 Peugeot Sport Peugeot 3008 DKR: Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena

Monday's test, dubbed a 'marathon stage' as crews will not be allowed any assistance in the Uyuni bivouac, was originally to feature a 322km timed run.

But recurring rainfall in Bolivia has made running the stage to plan untenable, and the timed section has been shortened as a result.

The Bolivian leg of the 2017 Dakar has been affected greatly by weather conditions, which first forced the shortening of Friday's Tupiza–Oruro test and then saw Saturday's Oruro–La Paz timed stage cancelled altogether.

After the bivouac in Oruro was ravaged by torrential rain, competitors travelled on Saturday in convoy to La Paz, where intermittent weather continued through Sunday.

Peugeot trio to play it safe

Making up the top three in the car classification at the midway point of the rally, Peugeot's three remaining contenders have all said they will adopt a cautious approach for the no-assistance marathon stage.

“For sure, we need to manage a little bit different. A marathon stage is always not full attack. We need to be a little bit more safe to save the car,” said rally leader Stephane Peterhansel.

“We know that it's important not to break everything on the first day because we don't have service at the end,” agreed Sebastien Loeb. “It's important to be maybe a bit safe - but for the rest, nothing is different.”

Said Cyril Despres: “The car is quite strong, and I know how to repair it. But still, I don't want to be repairing any damage on the marathon stage. Keeping cool is most important.”

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Peugeot faltering my “only chance” for Dakar win - Hirvonen
Next article Toby Price suffers seizure during Dakar crash recovery

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA