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Al-Attiyah stripped of Dakar victory
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QATAR’S Nasser Al-Attiyah was stripped of victory on the opening stage of the Dakar Rally on Sunday for exceeding the speed limit while defending champion Nani Roma saw his hopes shattered.
Mini driver Al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion, had finished first on the 170km timed stage between Buenos Aires and Villa Carlos Paz, clocking 1 hour 12 minutes. That was 22 seconds faster than Argentina’s Orlando Terranova and 1min 04secs ahead of American Robby Gordon behind the wheel of a Hummer.
But seven hours later, Al-Attiyah was punished for travelling at 68km/hour in a section of the stage where the limit was 50km/hour. He was penalized two minutes and relegated to seventh place on the stage with Terranova declared the winner ahead of Gordon and South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers in a Toyota.
Veteran Peugeot drivers Carlos Sainz and Stephane Peterhansel placed eighth and 10th respectively at 2 minutes 06seconds and 2 minutes 35seconds.
It was also a miserable first day for Roma as the Spaniard’s Mini broke down after just 10km and he eventually ended the day being towed home in 135th place and six and a half hours off the lead.
Peterhansel, an 11-time champion, admitted that he did not drive flat out with a marathon stint to follow over the next two weeks. “It was a bit stressful to tackle the first special when you don’t know how strong you are,” said the Frenchman.
“We eased into the race, without taking too many risks, gently, keeping a watchful eye on all the dials... We’re trying to learn about the car. We had no clue how far we could go.”
This year’s rally features a gruelling 9,000 kilometers trek through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia before arriving back in Buenos Aires for a January 17 finish.
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