An organizers’ error in the drivers’ route guide caused chaos at the Dakar Rally on Sunday as cars went off the route into the vast Saudi Arabian desert in a blunder blasted as a “disaster” by a former champion.
The roadbook error came at the 158km mark of the seventh stage, a 412km loop which started and finished in al-Duwadimi and was enough to take the leaders off course. Losing precious time, they drove aimlessly in the desert until an organization helicopter came to put the cars back on the right track.
“We were there for 50 minutes, 50 minutes of going round in circles,” said Belgian driver Guillaume de Mevius, who was among the first to arrive at the faulty mark in his Mini. “We were crossing paths with everyone who was turning round, trying to get to the same place as us but which we’d already tried.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
As a result, the organizers had to erase the times on a 20km section of the special, although there was still confusion over the remainder of the course because of the order in which the cars had set out. The incident prompted stinging criticism of the organizers.
“When you want to do the roadbook, do it well,” Qatar’s five-time winner Nasser al-Attiyah said, driving a Dacia. “You have to check it many, many times because this was a disaster. It was a big risk.”
Brazilian Lucas Moraes of Toyota emerged from the confusion as the day’s stage winner, finishing 7 minutes, 41 seconds ahead of Swede Mattias Ekstrom with American Mitchell Guthrie at 9 minutes, 28 seconds, both in Fords.
“Nice to win one more stage in the Dakar, these things are really hard to get,” Moraes said. “I think maybe tomorrow it’s going to be just like this one today, and then we’re going to start reaching the Empty Quarter.”
In the overall standings, South African leader Henk Lategan in a Toyota has a lead of just 21 seconds over Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi. Ekstrom is third at 10 minutes, 25 seconds.
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