Terranova moves into lead, Alonso crunches rock on Day 2 of Dakar

Orlando Terranova has taken over top spot in Cars after Stage 2 of the Dakar Rally while Fernando Alonso lost more than two hours when he hit rock.

Terranova was second fastest to Giniel De Villiers on the 367 competitive kilometres from Al Wajh to Neom and is now 4:43s clear of the field in the general classification.

The X-raid Mini JCW 4×4 driver revealed that he had actually had a difficult day despite the result.

“It was nice but very hard,” said Terranova.

“We had been pushing from the beginning and we got a puncture 60 kilometres from the start. So, I started to drive more gently.

“In one area, we saw Nasser (Al-Attiyah) going the opposite way. We knew that we were going in the right way, but we did a loop and it was a big mess. We lost a lot of time and started to get into a big fight until the neutralisation point.

“After that, I tried to push, but very carefully because it was still stony. But again, today it was okay and we did a good job.”

De Villiers had his troubles on the opening day, when his Toyota Gazoo Hilux incurred a puncture, and is now sixth overall after starting the day in 14th.

His team-mate, Alonso, fared far worse on Day 2 after going eighth fastest to the Kilometre 159 waypoint.

The Spaniard then broke a wheel and incurred suspension damage when he hit a rock, dropping over two hours and 30 minutes while he and co-driver Marc Coma completed repairs.

Carlos Sainz (X-raid JCW Buggy) is second overall with 2019 champion Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) another 1:24s back in third after picking up three more punctures.

“Yesterday we had three flat tyres and today we had three flat tyres too. It’s not easy… It’s a new area for everybody, you know,” said the Qatari.

“Today we got lost a little bit and we lost around ten minutes, but everybody makes mistakes.

“This is an interesting Dakar and we should thank the organisers for making it a really interesting Dakar.

“It’s very open and I think that maybe the last day will decide who will be the winner.”

Mathieu Serradori (SRT Century Buggy) and Stage 1 winner Vaidotas Zala (Agrorodeo Mini 4×4) round out the overall top five.

Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, who found himself on his side on Day 1 during Day 1, took his PH Sport Peugeot 3008 to third on Day 2 and is now seventh overall at 12:35s off the pace.

‘Mr Dakar’ Stephane Peterhansel (X-raid JCW Buggy) sits eighth overall, one spot up on Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota), the latter of whom led all the way until the penultimate waypoint before a mistake late in the day’s running.

In Trucks, Maz’s Siarhei Viazovich was the stage winner and now overall leader, with Kamaz’s Dimitry Sotnikov second on both metrics, while defending champion Eduard Nikolaev is now sixth in the general classification.

Ignacio Casale took a second stage win in as many days in Quads as Francisco Lopez Contardo moved to the top of the SSV classification.

Australians

Toby Price dropped to ninth overall in Bikes as he struggled with navigation and road leading duties.

Rodney Faggotter moved from 25th to 19th in the Bikes on his Yamaha, Phillip Wilson (KTM) is 87th, Ben Young (KTM) is one position behind, Trevor Colin Wilson (Husqvarna) crept up to 121st, and Matthew Tisdall (KTM) is 130th.

Stage 3 is a 427km loop plus 77km liaison around Neom.

General classification: Cars (Top 10)