What better way to start a new year than with the world’s most gruelling rally that covers over 9,500km and stretches 13 stages? That’s just how the 2011 motorsports calendar has booted up with the 2011 Dakar Rally.
It’s still early in the rally with only two stages covered so far but even then, a familiar face is already leading the timesheets by a margin that is more fitting for an overall winner. Defending Dakar champion Carlos Sainz, piloting the Volkswagen Touareg under the VW factory works team.
Sainz won the first two stages to open up a commanding three minutes and five seconds lead over second placed Stephane Peterhansel of BMW. The second stage saw Sainz really put the pedal to the metal to take the stage with teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah tailing by just over a minute.
The best bit is that Sainz had to substantially slow down for over 12km as malfunctioning wiper blades severely reduced his vision. Even then, the Spaniard managed to garner such a huge lead over the chasing pack and short of running on square wheels, it looks like he will be successfully defending his crown come the end of the last stage.
Nonetheless, as the saying goes, it’s a rally and not a race, so there’s still plenty of time for the timesheets to change.
Source: CNN
