Dakar Rally ‘not over yet’ says Lategan after losing the race lead

Henk Lategan has vowed to come out swinging on the last three stages of the Dakar Rally after a disappointing day at the office yesterday saw him lose his overall lead to Yazeed Al Rajhi.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) driver and his navigator Brett Cummings started Stage 9 5:41 clear of Al Rajhi, but had to play catch-up after getting lost early in the day and suffering a puncture in the process. The pair finished the 357km timed section between Riyadh to Haradh 16:02 off stage winner Nasser Al-Attiyah’s winning time of 2:52:59 and 12:50 adrift of Al Rajhi, who finished third on the day.

Lategan and Cummings start the first of two stages in the notorious Empty Quarter today 7:09 behind Al Rajhi and his co-driver Timo Gottschalk, who like them also drives a South African-built GR Hilux T1+ in the colours of Overdrive Racing.

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‘Lots of miles to go’

Third-placed Mattias Ekstrom and Emil Bergkvist (Ford M-Sport Raptor) closed the gap to Lategan and Cummings to 17:41 yesterday. Only 31 seconds behind the Swedish pair, Al-Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger (The Dacia Sandriders) looms large.

“That was one of our worst days of this Dakar Rally. But it’s not over. There is still a long way to go. And still a lot of race miles to go,” Lategan said on a video posted on TGRSA’s social media accounts after the stage.

“It was a very difficult day for us. It was no suppose to be so bad, but we made an error right at the beginning and got lost. While we were lost we had a puncture.

“It was really bad from us and I’m disappointed.”

Toyota’s Dakar Rally woes continue

Toyota’s bad luck continued yesterday when Guy Botterill and Denis Murphy race ended after suffering a bad crash. Both the driver and his navigator manage to escape without serious injuries.

That means that TGRSA only has Saood Variawa and co-driver Francois left to support Lategan and Cummings. Giniel de Villiers threw in the towel in his last race after navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz suffered a neck injury.

Stage 10 of the Dakar Rally on Wednesday consists of a 120km timed section. This is followed by 275km against the clock on Stage 11 on Thursday. Stage 12 is a 61km dash to the finish in Shubaytah, making the Empty Quarter a do-or-die affair. While they might not be the longest, the Empty Quarter is renowned for its tricky terrain.