Dakar director flew into stage to assist drivers after roadbook error

The director of the Dakar Rally personally made positive rivals have been capable of finding the right route on Stage 7 after a mistake was discovered within the roadbook.

A number of drivers struggled to validate a waypoint a 3rd of the way in which into Sunday’s 418km check in Al Duwadimi, with many going off target as they religiously adopted the roadbook equipped by organiser ASO.

It was later found that the digital booklet the navigators have been counting on had an error, forcing Dakar to neutralise a 20km part of the stage to make the competitors honest for everybody.

“An incorrect roadbook be aware for km 158 of the particular has brought about a number of drivers on the entrance of the sphere to lose their bearings,” an announcement from the occasion learn.

“A phase of about 20 km earlier than and after this level will due to this fact be delimited on the end of the automotive particular on the bivouac in Al Duwadimi, erasing any positive factors or losses made on this a part of the stage.”

Now, it has emerged that Dakar director David Castera himself received on a helicopter and flew into the stage to assist the drivers that had received struck. He supplied visible alerts to make sure they discovered the right route and validated the problematic checkpoint with out shedding any additional time.

Following the choice to neutralise the part affected by the roadbook error, Dakar additionally issued an up to date classification, deducting the time some drivers had misplaced whereas they tried to seek out the way in which.

Toyota’s Henk Lategan, Dacia star Nasser Al-Attiyah and Overdrive racer Yazeed Al-Rajhi all moved up the order after Dakar up to date the standings for the day.

The stage was ultimately received by manufacturing unit Toyota driver Lucas Moraes, with Ford duo Mattias Ekstrom and Mitchell Guthrie ending second and third respectively.

Lategan languished down in fifteenth place, permitting Al-Rajhi within the buyer Toyota to slash his benefit within the general standings to only 21 seconds. Ekstrom holds third place within the basic classification, whereas Al-Attiyah sits 22 minutes down in fourth.

Dakar resumes on Monday with a 487km stage between Al-Duwadimi and Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. As was the case on Sunday, drivers within the Final class will once more observe a totally completely different path to their two-wheel counterparts.

Pictures from Dakar Rally Stage 7