Qaisumah (Saudi Arabia) (AFP)
The route of the 6th stage of the Dakar 2021 connecting the cities of al Qaisumah to Hail in Saudi Arabia has been shortened "for safety reasons", the organizers announced Thursday evening.
Several dozen competitors were still on the course of the 5th stage at the time of the announcement, as night had fallen and the weather was deteriorating in the vicinity of the city of al Qaisumah.
The 6th stage, which is due to take place on Friday, was initially supposed to consist of a 448 km special, as well as two links, for a total distance of 792 km.
The organizers have decided to postpone the start and to reduce the length of the timed special in order to give more time to the lagging competitors, mainly amateurs, to recover physically.
The timed event was reduced by 100 kilometers by removing one of the compulsory points of the course, but the connections were kept as planned, for a total distance reduced to 689 kilometers.
The 43rd edition of the Dakar rally started on January 3 from the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, host country of the famous rally raid for the second year in a row.
The French Stéphane Peterhansel and Kevin Benavides currently occupy the first places in the categories cars and motorcycles while there are still seven stages to go.
bde / fbx
© 2021 AFP