Neom (Saudi Arabia) (AFP)

French Stéphane Peterhansel, "Monsieur Dakar", is off to a stunning fourteenth coronation in the 2021 edition of the famous rally raid, which the Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo seems well placed to win on motorcycles after the abandonment of his runner-up on Tuesday .

"It was as the special went on that I understood that we had to manage," commented Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini), who has already won seven Dakar in cars and six on motorcycles.

By winning his first stage, the Frenchman shared his experience to increase his comfortable lead in the overall standings (17 minutes and 50 seconds) over the Qatari Nasser al Attiyah (Toyota), who came second with twelve minutes late: "It was a kind of like the stages we had in Africa. It wasn't just a sprint, where you have to go 100% from start to finish. There is a management of the car, a strategy that applies immediately , not before starting. "

"Peter" received a boost of luck.

Al Attiyah and Carlos Sainz, his two pursuers, punctured, the Qatari pilot got lost a bit, and the Frenchman Mathieu Serradori (Century), independent competitor, long leading the special was slowed down by a technical incident as often since the start of this Dakar.

Even behind, Al Attiyah seems the only dangerous pursuer for Peterhansel: the Spanish title holder Carlos Sainz (Mini) is now more than an hour, the fourth Jakub Przygonski (Toyota) is relegated to more than two hours.

Nani Roma twice crowned on the Dakar and the only survivor of the BRX adventure since the retirement of Sébastien Loeb is at 2:45 am in 5th position.

Peterhansel will lead the way

Stéphane Peterhansel will therefore have to open the way for the first time on Wednesday at the wheel of his buggy with his co-driver Edouard Boulanger.

On two wheels, the day won by the Argentinian Kevin Benavides (Honda) had its share of crashes and abandons.

The Australian Toby Price, second in the general classification on the morning of the 9th stage and winner in 2019 had to retire after a heavy fall at kilometer 155. Suffering from a head trauma and a broken collarbone he was taken to hospital in Tabuk for a radiological assessment, without his life being in danger.

The Argentinian Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna), brother of the winner of the day also fell and gave up, suffering from possible fractures he was also helicoptered to the hospital of Tabuk.

As in the car category, the leader in the general standings, the Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda), therefore consolidated his first place in the general standings by finishing 3rd, just 1 minute 34 seconds behind the winner of the day.

He now has 11 minutes and 24 seconds ahead of Benavides and 14 minutes 34 seconds over Briton Sam Sunderland (KTM).

American Ricky Brabec, who also recovered time, found himself 4th overall at 17 minutes 26 seconds ahead of Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort (Honda), 5th at 29 minutes.

On Wednesday, for the 10th stage, the competitors will go from Neom to Al Ula for a stage of 342 km of special.

© 2021 AFP