Dakar 2020: Stephane Peterhansel and Pablo Quintanilla win Stage 9
Stage 9 of the 2020 Dakar Rally, which took competitors over a total distance of 886km from Wadi Al Dawasir to Haradh, was won by X-Raid Mini's Stephane Peterhansel. It was a third stage win this year for "Mr. Dakar", who is now just six and a half minutes behind overall leader Carlos Sainz.
Stephane Peterhansel took his third stage win of the 2020 Dakar with victory on Stage 9
Sainz himself only finished Stage 9 fifth, having lost five minutes around the 96km mark. This has led to his overall lead in the 2020 Dakar being cut down rather drastically. Second place in Stage 9 went to Nasser Al-Attiyah, driving a Hilux for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. The three-time Dakar winner is currently just 24 seconds behind Sainz in the overall standings. The gap between Sainz and team-mate Peterhansel, meanwhile, has been halved.
While Fernando Alonso and Marc Coma managed to finish second in Stage 8 of the rally, they had a harder time on Stage 9, finishing ninth. This has allowed them to move up to 10th overall, with three stages left in the rally.
Husqvarna rider Pablo Quintanilla's first stage win of the 2020 Dakar came on Stage 9 of the event
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing's Pablo Quintanilla managed to take his first win in the 2020 Dakar, finishing ahead of Red Bull KTM's Toby Price. Monster Energy Honda's Joan Barreda Bort ended Stage 9 third, one spot ahead of teammate and overall leader Ricky Brabec.
Brabec continues in the overall lead of the rally, ahead of Quintanilla, with Price third. Emanuel Gynes continues in the overall lead of the Originals by Motul (erstwhile Malle Moto) class.
Ignacio Casale continues in the overall lead of the Dakar's Quad class after nine stages
In the Quad category Ignacio Casale claimed his fourth stage win of the 2020 Dakar, which allowed him to continue in the overall lead. Red Bull Off Road Team USA's Blade Hildebrand won the stage in the SxS class, although the overall lead is still held by Casey Currie.
Andrey Karginov (RUS) of Team KAMAZ-Master still leads the overall Truck class after nine stages
The Truck category saw another bout of Kamaz domination, with Andrey Karginov claiming the stage win. He is currently 38 minutes ahead of teammate Anton Shibalov.
