There may have been ‘just’ 341km between the rest bivouac E – where the top 27 runners camped overnight – and the finish in Bisha but the Saudi landscape wasn’t done with wreaking havoc on the Ultimate class cars.
Monday’s second part of the 48-Hour Chrono stage started out at km 626, but 69km later Gregoire de Mevius’ X-Raid Mini JCW ground to a halt for 90 minutes, dropping from 14th in the stage classification to 42nd.
The next to exit dune left was Cristina Gutierrez in the third Dacia Sandrider at km 729, accompanied by her assistance truck, followed by Nani Roma who stopped at km 766 and had to wait for his support truck.
Guy Botterill, running fifth in the stage rankings, lost around half an hour before waypoint 20 and stopped again before waypoint 22 with mechanical issues. The South African got going again after nearly two-hours and completed the stage in 42nd position
Carlos Sainz stopped his battered Raptor between the 868 and 897km waypoints. He finished the stage eventually, 1 hour 33 minutes behind Al Rajhi.
With 30km to go, Giniel de Villiers and Saood Variawa crashed into each other in thick dust. While both vehicles suffered significant damage, both crews were unharmed. De Villiers managed to make his car a runner, and completed the stage in a provisional 29th at the time of writing.
Through all of this, Yazeed Al Rajhi picked up where he left off leading the pack home in his Overdrive Toyota Hilux, in spite of huge pressure from Nasser Al-Attiyah who got to within 26 seconds of snatching the lead.
Henk Lategan, the leading Toyota Gazoo Racing driver, was steady in third place, vaulting to the top of the virtual overall standings after 739km.
Rocas Bacuiska’s Hilux powered the young Lithuanian to an excellent fourth overall with Mathieu Serradori the Century Racing meat in an Overdrive Racing sandwich with Overdrive’s Juan Cruz Yacopini 12 seconds further back in sixth place.
Mattias Ekstrom stopped his Ford for several minutes before km 739, dropping off the stage podium to end in seventh position.
Sebastian Loeb and Fabian Lurquin put in a storming drive gaining 15 minutes after losing half an hour with engine fan problems on Sunday. He ended the stage in ninth place, dragging himself into sixth in the virtual overall standings, just under 19 minutes behind Lategan.
Toby Price continued to surprise on his debut in the Ultimate class with ninth while Benediktas Vanagas and Szymon Gospodarczyk made their first appearance in the top 10 after bringing their Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics Hilux home behind the Australian.
After the finish, Yazeed Al Rajhi received a 2-minute penalty while Nasser Al Attiyah was handed a 4-minute penalty, both for exceeding speed limits. Although the penalties have not deprived Al Rajhi of stage victory, it does mean Al Attiyah drops down to third on the 48 HR Chrono, with Henk Lategan moving into second place, 4’16’’ behind Al Rajhi.
On two wheels, after the 48 HR Chrono stage, Daniel Sanders has opened up a gap in the general standings and leads Skyler Howes by 12’36’’. Ross Branch is third, 4’’ behind Howes and 8’’ ahead of the American’s team-mate Tosha Schareina. Title holder Ricky Brabec completes the top 5, 15’09’’ behind Sanders.
Overall standings after stage 2:
- H. Lategan/B. Cummings Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux 15:40:30
- Y. Al Rajhi/T. Gottschalk Overdrive Toyota Hilux +4:45
- N. Al-Attiyah/E. Boulanger Dacia Sandrider +11:14
- T. Price/S. Sunderland Overdrive Toyota Hilux +11:44
- M. Bergstrom/E. Bergkvist M-Sport Ford Raptor +13:16
- S. Loeb/F. Lurquin Dacia Sandrider +18:56
- L. Moraes/A. Monleon Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux +20:57
- M. Serradori/L. Minaudier Century Racing CR-7 +22:45
- M. Guthrie/K. Walch M-Sport Ford Raptor +23:33
- J. Yacopini/D. Oliveras Overdrive Toyota Hilux +23:57
