STAGE 8  | UYUNI – TUPIZA

On the second part of the marathon stage on this year’s Dakar Rally, competitors embarked on 498 competitive kilometres (including the highest point of the rally at 4786 metres), all without the usual preparation offered by overnight service. The Team PEUGEOT Total crews handled the challenge perfectly: Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz continue to lead overall, while Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret and Cyril Despres/David Castera recovered from yesterday’s delays to finish one-two on the stage: the fourth double for PEUGEOT.

  • Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret bounced back from the time they lost yesterday to score their second stage win this year, and Peterhansel’s 40th Dakar stage win in a car. Leading from the third waypoint in their PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi, they reduced the gap to second place overall to just over seven minutes. 
  • Having sacrificed themselves to assist their French colleagues yesterday, Cyril Despres/David Castera were back among the top times and took second place on the stage, only 49 seconds sower than Peterhansel/Cottret. 
  • Now with a large margin at the head of the overall standings after winning yesterday’s stage, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz played it safe today, particularly as they had to open the road. The Spanish duo were fifth fastest and their lead now stands at 1h06m37s. 
  • Tomorrow’s stage 9 between Tupiza in Bolivia and Salta in Argentina has been cancelled after heavy rain. The conditions made it difficult for a satisafctory bivouac to be set up in Tupiza, threating to render the route planned by the organiser impractical. The competitors and their support teams will therefore instead travel to Salta via a liaison route. 

CLASSIFICATION OF STAGE 8: 

  1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi, 5h15m18s
  2. Cyril Despres (FRA) / David Castera (FRA), PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi, +49s
  3. Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT) / Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Toyota 4WD, +2m12s
  4. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NED) / Michel Perin (FRA), Toyota 4WD, +5m00s
  5. Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Lucas Cruz (ESP), PEUGEOT 3008 DKR Maxi, +7m04s
  6. Orlando Terranova (ARG) / Bernardo Graue (ARG), Mini 4WD, +10m00s
  7. Jakub Przygonski (POL) / Tom Colsoul (BEL), Mini 4WD, +16m38s
  8. Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE) / Xavier Panseri (FRA), Peugeot 3008DKR, +21m20s
  9. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZAF), Toyota 4WD, +23m19s
  10. Martin Prokop (CZE) / Jan Tomanek (CZE), Ford 4WD, +27m55s 

CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 8: 

  1. Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Lucas Cruz (ESP), PEUGEOT 3008 DKR Maxi, 27h04m00s
  2. Nasser Al Attiyah (QAT) / Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Toyota 4WD, +1h06m37s
  3. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi, +1h13m42s
  4. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD) / Michel Perin (FRA), Toyota 4WD, +1h23m00s
  5. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZAF), Toyota 4WD, +1h37m09s
  6. Jakub Przygonski (POL) / Tom Colsoul (BEL), Mini 4WD, +2h28m36s
  7. Martin Prokop (CZE) / Jan Tomanek (CZE), Ford 4WD, +2h43m30s
  8. Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE) / Xavier Panseri (FRA), Peugeot 3008DKR, +2h55m42s
  9. Peter Van Merksteijn (NED) / Maciej Marton (POL), Toyota 4WD, +4h59m41s
  10. Nicolas Fuchs (PER) / Adrian Mussano Fernando (ARG), Borgward 4WD, +6h34m09s

TBC. Cyril Despres (FRA) / David Castera (FRA), PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi, +44h46m05s 

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

Stéphane Peterhansel (PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi n°300)

1st on stage 8, 3rd in overall classification

“Last night in the parc fermé, Jean-Paul and I did the minimum, with Cyril, David and the crew from our racing truck instead taking over to prepare our car. Today was a long stage with high altitude, and it was not easy to stay focused. I immediately felt confident at the wheel of my PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi, and I could attack just as if it had been prepared in regular service. We won the stage, but only by two minutes, when we are more than an hour behind overall.” 

Cyril Despres (PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi n°308)

2nd on stage 8, TBC in overall classification

“We had only four hours of sleep last night but we are getting used to it! Today, everything went very well. Despite many potential pitfalls with the navigation, we found a good pace. There was always a car in front of us, which helped pull us along and I think we passed 18 of them despite the dust, not to mention the bikes and the quads! It was incredible: we climbed to over 4700 metres before descending. It was magnificent.” 

Carlos Sainz (PEUGEOT 3008DKR Maxi n°303)

5th on stage 8, 1st in overall classification

“Considering the gap that we have overall, and considering that we were opening the road, we had to take it easy. Opening the road was not easy, especially in the beginning where there a lot of off-road driving, a lot of camel grass and some difficult places to cross. The second part was much easier with more visible tracks. The 3008DKR Maxi worked very well.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Stéphane Peterhansel is known as ‘Mr Dakar’ for his unmatched record of success on the event. He claimed six wins in the bike category during the 1990s, while his 2017 victory was his seventh car win and 13th in total. He’s also won more stages than anyone else, a record he consolidated today with his 40th victory in a car and 73rd in all. There’s only one record he could still beat this year: for the most wins in one category. The Frenchman is currently tied with Vladimir Chagin, who has seven wins in the truck category.

 WHAT’S NEXT?

STAGE 9 (Monday 15 January) : TUPIZA > SALTA. 754 kilometres of which 242 are competitive.

Stage cancelled.

- Advertisement -

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR