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Dakar Summary: Peterhansel returns home with his 14th Rally victory
The desert rally continued to summon the heroic battles in the heart of the Saudi desert, a refreshing upgrade to the atmosphere of closure that has landed on us recently.
As always, Peterhansel and Kamaz picked up the trophies, the Israeli teams fought like lions
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Reporter: Rami Gilboa, Photography: ASO / DPPI
Sunday, 17 January 2021, 11:53
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Peterhansel on his way to his 14th podium.
Stefan is a sharpened and calculated driver, which fully justifies his mythological reputation (Photo: Official Website, DPPI / ASO)
After a day of rest in Hale, Dakar survivors jumped into the second half of the toughest rally in the world.
By this point it was already clear that the winner of the car category would come from the Holy Trinity of Peterhansel-Saints-Atiyah, and that the truck podium would be painted blue-kamaz;
It is easy to write "was clear" but in Dakar nothing is clear;
"To complete Dakar you have to go 8,000 miles, but twenty feet is enough to eliminate you," said one of the desert sailors.
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The Kamaz team left no chance to the other competitors (Photo: Official Website, E.Vargiolu)
The risk was very real, as 93 teams forced to retire from the race (out of 286 that jumped off the road) have learned.
No competitor deprived his life this year but dozens retired due to technical glitches, the best bikers smashed their hopes on the desert rocks, ATVs went up in flames.
With 8,000 miles from leap to finish, Dakar 2021 was not one of the longest, but some of the stages were the hardest ever, dipping into mountains of swampy dunes.
In the last part, the route clings to the eastern shore of the Gulf of Eilat, with sea and desert views that reminded us of the happy days of Sinai.
On the far side of the Strait, the shores of Sinai Island (Photo: Official Website, Julien Delfoss)
Cars
44:28:11 Hours after he jumped to the first ranking section of the Dakar 2021, Stephen Peterhansel shut down the massive X-RAID mini engine.
There was a strange silence inside the sweaty helmet and Mr. Dakar could have said to himself, "This is, I did it, one more time. This is my 14th victory in Dakar but in my life, it is no less sweet than the first victory" (Thirty years ago, With a Yamaha motorcycle).
Toyota's petrol engines are stronger than those of the mini, and have 4X4 propulsion.
That was not enough for Nasser al-Atiyah to win in 2021 (Photo: Official Website, DPPI)
Nasser al-Atiyah's incessant pressure on Peterhansel was continuous and immense, but the Frenchman knew he had so much to lose, from any mistake that might occur;
He was not tempted to get into momentary fights, and safely kept the 17-minute gap he had accumulated in his favor.
In the last ranking section, Carlos Saines won the 'The Matador', and Al-Atiya was pushed into second place with the Toyota 'Gazo'.
Al-Atiyah has won six rankings this year, Carlos has won three, but all of these will go into the depths of the forgotten statistics.
Peterhansel won the race because of his stability and composure, keeping a fast pace and reducing risks, while doing excellent teamwork with new navigator Edward Boulange.
You can be Prince Sebastian Loeb, but on marathon day you will get your hands dirty like any mechanic (Photo: Official Website, DPPI)
Al-Atiyah was again found to be the most skilled dune fox;
He drove fast and competitive but suffered full less than 16 tackles during the race.
Replacing 16 wheels robbed Nasser of about 25 minutes in total, those were the minutes that pushed him to second place on the podium, 14 minutes behind Peterhansel.
Saines was also fast but he paid a heavy price for navigation errors in the first stages, and technical glitches later.
An important part of Peterhansel's strategy was to keep the tires and car assemblies but one way or another, there is no doubt that Captain Peterhansel was and remains the king of Dakar - by car or motorcycle, in Africa, South America or Asia.
Even the best navigators sometimes gossiped among the giant Saudi malls (Photo: Official Website, ASO / DPPI)
Trucks
Dmitry Sotnikov's Kamaz-Master needed 48:23:21 hours to cover a dozen of the Dakar Rally rankings.
Sutnikov controlled the race with a high hand and led it from day one to last.
Half an hour behind him, his teammates from the Russian team, Shiblov and Mardiv, galloped.
The three of them placed the giant trucks on the podium, only the Czech Martin Makik somehow looking in the exhaust range of the Russian Armada.
The only thing that can dwarf Kamaz-Master are the desert cliffs in Saudi Arabia (Photo: Official Website, ASO / DPPI)
To the 18th and honorable place came one of ours, the CRV team that included Aviv Kadshai, Yizhar Armoni and Maoz Wilder.
Our forces conducted a relatively orderly and stable race, despite a reversal that occurred on the second day of the race.
The Israeli team managed to get the truck back on wheels, and continued the race as if there was nothing.
On the eighth day of the race the team qualified for 15th place in the overall standings and for a moment we thought that DAF number 536 just needed to maintain a steady pace until the finish line.
But there is no Dakar without surprises and one night, cracks were discovered in the chassis - not something that night welding could not solve.
Hundreds of miles later and two days before the finish a sickening cacophony was heard from the 13-liter, six-cylinder engine.
The truck lost power but barely managed to roll into the overnight parking lot;
The adventure cost the Israeli team four penalties, but there was still hope.
After overturning, welding a chassis, and with only five cylinders, the CRV team managed to finish in a very respectable 18th place (Photo: Official Website, Fotop)
All night the aid team worked on the truck, but in vain.
Five pistons thundered loudly but the sixth, refused to contribute its share to the original 900 horsepower.
The team has two more difficult days left until the end - over 1,000 kilometers, some of them in the mountains of dunes that require full engine power.
Despite the fear of blasting in the ocean of dunes, there was no doubt that the crew would not give up.
Aviv drove even more smoothly, Yizhar took care of fluent navigation, and Wilder made sure to lighten the engine by adjusting the air pressure to the ever-changing terrain conditions.
On Friday afternoon, Aviv turned off the engine that was ticking with an ominous sound - they reached the end of the race, and left it with great respect.
Thanks to exceptional professionalism and determination, the Israeli My Heritage team overcame all desert and climate damage (Photo: official website, ASO / DPPI)
Side vehicles on the side
SBS vehicles occupy an increasing share of desert racing, as they allow for relatively inexpensive participation in the race.
This category gives a chance to budget-challenged teams, one of whom drove the orange My Heritage, No. 434. Danny Pearl and Charlie Gottlieb set out for Dakar 2021 with modest ambitions: to enjoy the race as much as possible, and reach the finish line in one piece.
Charlie has tremendous experience in Dakar racing, Danny has been competing for many years in Israel and abroad. These are not restless young people but they are big, calm and extremely determined.
Apocalypse Now;
The photography teams and the management of the race move in a fleet of helicopters and planes (Photo: official website, ASO / DPPI)
Most of the race passed on the My Heritage team in relative calm;
They spent dozens of hours in the rocking seat, arriving at overnight parking lots at 2 a.m., overcoming glitches and replacing flat tires.
Their big test came in Stage No. 11, when the finish line was already seen within wheel reach.
150 kilometers from the finish and in the darkness of the night, they were surprised by a particularly steep dune ... The orange Maverick overturned several times, unloading two tires.
Danny and Charlie were not hurt by the rollover, but there was no way they would be able to extricate themselves up the dune.
Israelis can already sing on the finish line: "We arrived anyway, despite everything" ... Top right: Maoz Wilder, Danny Pearl, Aviv Kadshai, Charlie Gottlieb, Yizhar Armoni.
Bottom right Ofer Shoshan, Rotem Gvirzer, Jonathan Levinson, Danny Gal (Photo: Official Website, ASO / DPPI)
Luckily, the group's aid vehicle was still nearby.
With his help, they managed to assemble the damaged tires, and get out of the sand bath.
The orange Maverick arrived at the overnight parking lot bruised and battered, but in driving condition - the next day they completed the last stage, and climbed the finish podium.
The My Heritage team demonstrated in Dakar 2021 professionalism and commitment to the mission, at the highest level.
Alone in the face of the forces of nature, body fatigue, and the weakness of technology (Photo: Official Website, A. Vincent)
Harder on two wheels
On the seventh day of the race Toby Price was still fighting for the victory in the motorcycle team;
Using a bundle of handcuffs, he improvised a repair to his rear tire, crashed into the dunes and continued riding, a minute and 6 seconds behind the Chilean Florimo.
But the next day the two motorcyclists crashed out of the race, leaving the victory podium for Argentine Benavides with Honda.
KTM managed to put one rider on the podium, the British Sam Sunderland who saved the shattered glory of the Orange Armada.
Yamaha riders had no trace of the Dakar Motorcycle's tip bunch.
The classics went through a shortened route with 'celeb discounts', but gained a great experience (Photo: official website, Fotop)
Scoreboard (Photo: Screenshot, Screenshot)
The desert winds have not yet erased the scenery from the mighty dunes, and work is already beginning on Dakar 2022;
Local teams mark new stages, competitors lick their wounds, official teams plan to upgrade the race cars.
Everyone is talking about green Dakar and during the ninth stage we were able to taste a little of the future that awaits us in a few years.
The e-Blast 1 electric prototype is the first swallow for electric and hydrogen race cars, which will replace the current diesel and petrol engines (Peterhansel's mini has a 340 hp V6 diesel, Al-Atiyah's Toyota has an atmospheric petrol engine).
Early ignition, this e-Blast 1 has only an electric spark (Photo: Official Website, Julien Delfoss)
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e-Blast 1 knocked out an impressive debut during the ranking segment, with the help of two electric motors with a power of 340 hp and 1000 kg, bringing it to a maximum speed of 180 km / h. The test flight passed successfully, with e-Blast 1 reaching speeds This is not very surprising considering that the chassis of the electric vehicle is based on an up-to-date and competitive race car, which participated in the Dakar 2018. It was not stated what the test length was and what range the 150 kilowatt-hour battery is enough, Saudi Arabia, so close to us.With a little luck and diplomacy and with less corona, there is a good chance we can go there and experience the Dakar, not through computer and TV screens; inshallah, soon and nowadays.
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