The Dakar 2022 comes alive with Danilo Petrucci victorious in the 5th stage, the excellent performance of Paolo Lucci and many other Italians behind them.
The efforts and the difficulties of the Dakar they begin to play their game with several injuries and but also a lot of adrenaline that puts the turbo to the strongest. Thus, from braking to the limit, Danilo Petrucci switches to hammer gas on the Saudi dunes and stones, taking home his first victory at the Dakar Rally.
Content index
- Stage 3 - Al Qaisumah> Al Qaisumah
- Stage 4 - Al Qaisumah> Riyadh
- Stage 5 - Riyadh> Riyadh
- In competition with Oscar Polli
Stage 3 - Al Qaisumah> Al Qaisumah
The third stage saw David's battle against Goliath repeat itself. Portuguese Joaquim Rodrigues, he obtained the victory of the special in his 6th Dakar Rally. However, his feat did not upset the leaders of the general classification, who reduced the gaps before the 4th stage in Riyadh. In the overall standings, for his 31st birthday, Adrien Van Beveren was 4 seconds behind Sam Sunderland, followed by Matthias Walkner (3rd) and Skyler Howes (4th). In total, there were five brands in the top 6, with Lorenzo Santolino's Sherco in 6th place.
Danilo Petrucci he began to metabolize the Dakar, finishing in 22nd place on the stage, followed by Lucci in 33rd. The other Italians keep their energies in the rear, the Dakar is long and full of surprises and at its first experience, Lorenzo Maria Fanottoli he breaks his collarbone in several places and is forced to abandon the race.
Stage 4 - Al Qaisumah> Riyadh
A very long special but not the most demanding with a predominantly hard surface: stones, scree, various crevasses and more stones and stony ground. Barreda, who started 24th, took advantage of the longest stage of the rally to embark on a spectacular race, taking his teammate Pablo Quintanilla as a trusted navigator along the way and going full throttle to the finish for his 29th victory in the Dakar . The Valencian motorcyclist also climbed to seventh place overall, a short distance from the top 5, again driven by Sam Sunderland with the Austrian Mathias Walkner now in second place. Lorenzo Santolino earned himself a place in the elite with the fourth fastest time, while his teammate Sherco Rui Gonçalves took his first stage podium.
Petrucci e Lucci continue to climb the rankings without giving up a second, the first finishing the stage in 15th place, the second in 22nd. Followed by Tonelli 50 °, Gritti 52 °, Picco 84 °.
Stage 5 - Riyadh> Riyadh
Danilo Petrucci wins his first stage in the Dakar, also in the general classification was penalized by the technical failure of the first real stage. The Italian KTM driver, a well-known protagonist of the circuits of the Moto GP, logically entered the Rally 2 class for his first attempt at a rally-raid. Although he is participating to learn, today he triumphed in front of the most experienced pilots. He is what one might call a talented student (see Performance of the day), even though “Petrux” benefited from a penalty imposed on Toby Price. The terrain did not create difficulties for the trio of Sunderland, Walkner and Van Beveren, who still lead the overall standings. While injuries are starting to weigh on riders like Joan Barreda and Skyler Howes too.
Lorenzo Piolini he rejected his demon of the 5th stage, the one that last year cost him his retirement, even if he has again run among rocks, sand and dust. Lucci closes in 32nd place followed by Tonelli, Gritti and Picco. The rear group, made up of the Winker and Internò family, closes the Italian caravan with the aim of finishing the Dakar without finishing last.
Oscar Polli's comment
Our correspondent Oscar Chickens, is instead extricating itself between the old four-wheeled glories and some breakdowns, but despite everything, the historic rally cars are really beautiful. In fact, in the Classic category, given the age of the cars, it is allowed to skip stages and stop to replace entire engines. This is why we saw him "wandering" among abandoned car depots where, however, they found what they needed, an entire engine for their Nissan Navara number 767, driven by James Clerici, which put them back in the race!
“The Dakar gets to the heart, in the hard and selective stages, where in fact we are witnessing the first injuries, breakups and retirements. Too bad for Fanottoli, who had worked so much and hard, and it showed from the times that he was doing. Unfortunately, a collarbone gave way after a fall and broke in 4 points and he will be operated on Italy. Great performance by Danilo Petrucci, who was able not only to run fast, but to sail well. It takes very little to take a penalty and the pilots know it well who took many last year and this year have clearly improved in navigation.
Very well also Paolo Lucci, of Team Solarys, who with perseverance and determination does not give up an inch and advances in the wake of the strongest riders in the world. The best is yet to come! "
