Five key moments so far from the first Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia posted: 12/01/2020
Mixed fortunes for Price and Sunderland as Peterhansel and Guthrie Jr shine
The 2020 Dakar Rally convoy have enjoyed a deserved rest day on Saturday as they patch up their bodies and vehicles ahead of the second half of the race on Sunday. The maiden staging of the worlds most fearsome off-road race in Saudi Arabia has conjured up some fascinating stories so far with the competitors battling it out for stage wins and survival through the desert.
Here are the five key moments so far:
1) Sundays first stage saw 342 vehicles enjoy a pre-sunrise start in pursuit of glory racing 752km from Jeddah to Al Wajh, however it was not all plain sailing for defending bike champion Toby Price. The Australian rode blind after his roadbook tore completely at the 15km mark with the Red Bull KTM Factory Team rider still managing to secure the stage victory, despite a two-minute penalty that was handed out. He revealed: I was quite lucky in one way because I managed to follow on some dust and just keep up with the guys.
2) After a second stage free of big drama on Monday, Tuesday saw reigning side-by-side champion Chaleco Lopez suffer with two flat tyres. The Chilean was forced to drive conservatively as a result to give American rival Casey Currie the upper hand overall. Meanwhile in the truck category, Russian Dmitry Sotnikovs mighty Kamaz also came off second best in a collision with a rock that broke its front axle and saw him drop two hours behind.
3) Wednesdays stage four was a big boost for one rookie as American Mitch Guthrie Jr. started to repay the faith shown in him by the Red Bull Off-Road Team selectors as he was guided to the quickest time of the day by Norwegian co-driver Ola Floene. It moved Guthrie up to sixth overall and half an hour off the time set by Spaniard Jose Antonio Hinojo Lopez. After a promising first week, Guthrie said: Ive heard itll be 70 percent dunes in the second week so that sounds good. Im happy with where were at coming into the rest day.
4) Stage five on Thursday was a day to forget for one former champion as British biker Sam Sunderland crashed out of the race 187km into the timed special. The Red Bull KTM Factory Team rider, who was victorious in 2017s edition, suffered back and shoulder injuries. He later revealed on his Instagram account: While fighting for the stage win and feeling like everything was under control, I caught a camel grass mound awkwardly putting the bike sideways into the next one and a few (cartwheels) later I have 5 broken vertebrae and a shoulder blade but luckily no surgery is required and should be right again soon!
5) Fridays stage six was the last one before the rest day with Frenchman St phane Peterhansel making some headway in his bid for a record 14th Dakar Rally title after his previous 13 race wins on two and four wheels. The first week of the inaugural Saudi Arabian Dakar concluded with a dash over 352km of sand dunes between Hail and Riyadh with Peterhansel taking a small chunk out of Spaniard Carlos Sainzs overall car lead.
Top three overall results in each category
Car
1. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP) MINI Buggy 23h33m05s
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota 07m46s
3. St phane Peterhansel (FRA)/Paulo Fiuza (PRT) MINI Buggy 16m18s
Bike
1. Ricky Brabec (USA) Honda 23h43m47s
2. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI) Husqvarna 20m56s
3. Toby Price (AUS) KTM 25m39s
Truck
1. Andrey Karginov (RUS) Kamaz 25h06m20s
2. Anton Shibalov (RUS) Kamaz 19m14s
3. Siarhei Viazovich (BLR) Maz 36m30s
Side-by-side
1. Chaleco Lopez (CHI)/Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre (CHI) Can-Am 28h52m26s
2. Casey Currie (USA)/Sean Berriman (USA) Can-Am 09m48s
3. Sergei Kariakin (RUS)/Anton Vlasiuk (RUS) Can-Am 30m24s
Quad
1. Ignacio Casale (CHI) Yamaha 30h11m37s
2. Simon Vitse (FRA) Yamaha 35m12s
3. Rafal Sonik (POL) Yamaha 01h07m17s
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
01/07/2026
UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July.
Matt will take on this senio...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
Five key moments so far from the first Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia posted: 12/01/2020 
