Trucks

The fourth stage from Neoma to El-Ula with a length of 672 kilometers turned out to be extremely difficult for the participants. On the deserted highway lay a huge number of stones, which had to be circled with great care. As a result, not everyone was able to finish the race. Fortunately, the Russians did not leave the race, and as a result, they can safely bring the day into their asset. The victory was won by Anton Shibalov, who was ahead of KamAZ partners Andrei Karginov (+2.41) and Dmitry Sotnikov (+9.05).

At the same time, Belarusian leader Vyazovich from MAZ, which was leading up to the current stage, showed only sixth time and missed Karginov in first place in the total. The athletes are separated for 10 minutes and 43 seconds. On the third line is just Shibalov (+15.02).

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“Today was the most rocky day, probably a miracle happened that did not puncture a single wheel. Almost the whole trip was a real trial, I have not seen so many stones in my entire career. We had no problems with navigation and technology, ”R-Sport quoted the press service of KamAZ as saying.

Karginov, who admitted that he had not met such stones before, remained fully in agreement with this opinion.

“The day was complicated and long. A lot of stones, just an insane amount. Especially in the last 50 kilometers, during my entire career I have not seen such huge stones, ”the pilot emphasized.

And on the eve, Dmitry Sotnikov checked the strength of local stones on himself. Already in the first third of the stage, overtaking, he came across a huge boulder covered with sand. As a result, Dmitry’s car was seriously damaged, and it took two hours to repair. Despite this, the Russian found the strength to finish, but he rolled back strongly in the final protocol.

“It was hard to see a protruding stone. They let him in between the wheels and felt a strong blow. After 10 kilometers when inspecting the car, they realized that oil was flowing and the case of the transfer case was broken. It took two hours to repair. Fortunately, they did everything well. The hole was big, surprisingly they managed. Thought we would get off, ”Sotnikov said in an interview with the KamAZ-master press service.

Eduard Nikolaev also encountered no less serious difficulties. The control valve responsible for engine power broke down on his car. It took more than half an hour to repair it, as well as repair a broken wheel. In the final protocol, Edward after the fourth stage dropped to sixth place.

ATVs

The rally-marathon did not start very well for the Russian Sergey Karjakin, but in the third stage he managed to really prove himself. The Russian, along with his navigator Anton Vlasyuk, did an excellent job at the finish and showed a second result. Only Gerard Farres Guell from Monster Energy Can-Am was ahead. In the overall standings, Sergei climbed to fourth place.

True, according to the results of the fourth stage, Karjakin could not get into the top three, having skipped forward Mitchell Guthrie, Aron Domzhal and Austin Jones. In the total, Sergei remained fourth, but inferior to the leading Jose Antonio Inoho Lopez only 5 minutes and 46 seconds.

“It was a stone hell, trembling wildly. The last 70 km were terrible. Thanks to the organizers for the roadmap, everything was great. I think the most interesting and difficult is ahead. The stage was not bad, it was very difficult and lethal, there were a lot of stones, especially at the end of the special stage. The organizers got dubious timing: we rode one of the leaders, finished with a difference somewhere in a minute from the first place, and everyone who was behind went in the night, ”Karjakin noted.

SUVs

In this class, real motor racing legends fight for victory. So, following the results of four stages, the current champion 57-year-old Carlos Sainz is the leader, who is ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah and other super veteran Stefan Peteransel.

However, after the fourth stage, the legendary Frenchman won the Spaniard in the total for seven whole minutes. He became the first, and Al-Attiyah (+2.26) took the second place. In the overall standings, Sainz is still the leader. Al-Attiyah gives him 3 minutes and 3 seconds, and Peteransel - 11 minutes and 42 seconds. But the former pilot of Formula 1 Fernando Alonso on Wednesday took only 13th place.

The Russians are not doing very well either. For example, the car of Vladimir Vasiliev on the eve of a fire, and he was forced to prematurely finish the race.

“At first, we lost power: the car was driving at low speeds, but not at high speeds. We drove on, and suddenly something began to smoke with the smell of fuel. And there just climb up the mountain, into the dune. They rose, stopped - smoke fell with fire. We took out fire extinguishers, began to extinguish. It caught fire below - not the engine, but in the area of ​​spare wheels on the right side. We pulled out "spare parts", fire extinguishers seemed to have shot down a fire. Carbon ignited further, one fire extinguisher, and nothing could be done, ”said Vasiliev.

Motorcycles

On Wednesday, the first to come to the finish British Briton Sunderland, but after the end of the stage he was deprived of victory. The fact is that the pilot rode too fast in a zone with a limited speed. As a result, five minutes were taken from him, which drove Sunderland to eighth line. The victory went to Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo from Honda.

And the day before, an extremely frightening event took place in this class. The Belgian Adrien van Bereven had a serious accident - he flew out of the motorcycle at high speed. As a result, the athlete received a collarbone fracture and a severe hip injury.

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❌ @ adrienvanbeveren ❌ The @yamaharacingcomofficial rider has suffered a severe fall after just three kilometers of the day's special. He has not lost consciousness, but has been attended to by the medical team and transported by helicopter to the bivouac in Neom. # Dakar2020 #DakarHeroes تعرض سائق ياماها الى حادث قوي ، بعد ٣ كم من مرحلة اليوم. لم يفقد الوعي ولكن سارع الفريق الطبي لمعاينته ، ونقلوه على متن مروحية إلى إقامته المؤقتة في نيوم.

Posted by Dakar Rally (@dakarrally) Jan 7, 2020 at 12:23 PST