00:00Welcome back to your slightly quirky but still action-packed and info-strong roundup of today's
00:10action from Dakar and you can have it all in Spanish French or Arabic if you prefer
00:14just change the audio track in the YouTube settings for this video
00:17this one is like the beginning the first one so it's something very emotional we were planned
00:27to win one during the the 15 days but we are not expecting to do that quick so quickly so this is
00:33done and now we need to see if we can do it again thank you after a five-day sojourn at base camp in
00:40Yanbu the whole Dakar circus has decamped to one of the most important seats of ancient human
00:45civilization no not Grimsby Alula and as you're going to see it is both utterly stunning and
00:53terrifyingly brutal
00:57I think in the stock category the exciting thing is is that everyone's going to probably have these
01:06days I think the goal is to not lose as much time as possible and make your bad days less bad we
01:15didn't lose that much time I know we're two hours down right now but anything can happen in this class
01:27it's not easy stony sandy
01:29se retrouver en tête aussi vite c'est pas forcément une bonne option sur un sur un Dakar
01:38today we'll start with the ultimate class the top tier of a rally raid cars competition
01:43yesterday's winners Guillaume Demevius and Mathieu Bommel opened the road
01:47Guy Bottrell had what we call in technical rally terminology an absolute western super
02:06mayor that's nightmare for those who don't speak cockney rhyming slang we knew today's stony surfaces
02:11would likely mean punctures and this was a big blowout but rather than stopping he and Oriol Mena
02:16chose to carry on regardless and from then it all went beautifully south the damage to the tire and rim
02:22were so severe they had to do some trackside metal work limping home 37th but it's been an incredible day
02:29for Toyota a clean sweep of the top five Joao Ferreira fifth quickest for Toyota Gazoo racing
02:34W2 RC team a triple stage winner in the SSV's eighth overall in his ultimate debut last year a legend in
02:40the bikes Toby Price is in his second year on four wheels fourth for the Toyota Gazoo racing W2 RC team
02:47reigning champions Yazid al-Raji and Timo Gottschalk also in the Toyota Hilux but they represent overdrive racing
02:53a good day for us is everything going well we have one puncher and a lot of dust but we do a great job
03:02that's most important a first stage podium of the year for the Saudi star which leaves Hank Lattachan
03:07so close to winning the title last year but disappointed with their first two outings in 26
03:12Lattachan drove in the SSV class in Dubai but is back in the ultimates second today despite being one
03:19of many who required a puncture pit stop and let's pause briefly to admire this stunning landscape
03:25we'll see what we can do tomorrow hopefully we can have a good stage and get ourselves sort of
03:34back in the bunch victory went to American superstar Seth Quintero the boy wonder switch navigators this
03:40year and feels his pairing with compatriot Andrew short is already super promising it's Seth's third
03:46special win since moving up from buggies to ultimates if you're if you're battling your
03:53teammates for a win and you're having a good day so today was a good day it was almost a perfect day
03:59for Toyota but they don't lead overall for the first time that honor lies with Dacia sandriders
04:04and five-time champ Nasser al-Attiyah how important do you think today was Nasser I think today it's look
04:11like will be the key of Dakar five Toyotas two Dachas two Fords and a mini in the top 10 and
04:17Saeed Varyawa is in there just ahead of Carlos Sainz road and track star James Hillier is at his third
04:24Dakar yesterday he fell in a rocky section and fractured his arm just below the elbow the Dakar
04:29can be incredibly cruel his emotion was clear when I spoke to him this morning yeah I come to ride I
04:34enjoy riding in Saudi Arabia you know the goal is to finish and I think if I was closer to the end
04:40I would push it's hard really hard to digest and accept yeah incredibly disappointing to go out so
04:53early lost really for words at the moment it's part of this game is it's a roller coaster of emotion you
05:01know struggles and I guess one of the appeals of this you know the highs and the lows the lows far
05:09outweigh the highs but for some reason we keep coming back chasing those highs mend up well James
05:15I know we'll see you again original by Mitchell is the true spirit of the pioneers where riders
05:21participate in the rally with no support whatsoever man and machine alone against everything thrown at
05:26them by the Dakar and Saudi leading the original by Mitchell classes last year's winner Emmanuel Mani
05:47Genesh on his 16th participation the Romanian rally legend has won three from three so far
05:53Jean Martini and Benji Melon who lost out dramatically to Genesh last year just behind
05:58in rally GP could the same top three as the first two race days do it again can it Sanders and Braybeck
06:08third special Ricky Braybeck third for the third time the Honda rider has a feeling that KTM are working
06:15together against him but the American was quickest for the first 50k by the second time check Sanders had
06:21taken over the virtual lead tussling with Ricky's Honda teammate Tosha Shirena he looks to be keeping
06:28his powder dry for now with a charge to come later on Sanders though still setting the pace until
06:37kilometer 240 when Tosha took over only for Ricky to come back into the frame
06:42but what about can it winner on the opening two days as a rally GP rookie the Spaniard was in contention moving steadily up the field as was another Honda that of Skyler
06:58house in the end though the time bonuses separated these five Sanders leading
07:03can it and Braybeck home house and Shirena completed the top five thumbs up boys hand on heart that was a great stage
07:10I tried to find my rhythm because I was like in the middle of nowhere no one behind and no one in front
07:18you know I tried to make a push and get up to the front to gain some you know bonus time but now the
07:22guys are opening really well Daniel make an incredible job opening more or less half day so super happy a
07:28bit after the refueling I catch one tree I crashed big it's part of it I have nothing more to say
07:36Sanders, Cannett, Braybeck, Shirena, Branch, Benavidez, Howes, Nacho and ABV I literally couldn't have hoped for a better
07:44top 10 at this point and includes one rally 2 rider Michael Doherty who retained his overall lead over
07:50today's winner Martin Ventura not the pet detective that's Honda's first ever win in rally 2 and what a day for the
07:57Portuguese rookie who's part of the official factory setup the challenges is proving challenging for all the
08:09title challenges today victory went to Lucas Del Rio who had a multitude of problems back in 2022 and
08:15when he's not behind the wheel is a professional actor well he didn't fluff his lines today on the
08:20biggest stage of all etc etc David Zilla is the new overall leader to be or not to be Dakar champion eh
08:29Gonzalo Guerrero runner-up in the challenges 12 months ago has moved to T4s this year victory for
08:36him takes him up to second in the standings behind Xavier de Soltret in the trucks Martin
08:46Machik finished third in successive days after struggling with the conditions of rocks and dust
08:51the defending champion thought he was fighting for first with Vyedosa's Jala yet both were beaten to
08:57the win by Gert Hutzink the Dutchman earned his first win on the Dakar since two specials in 2024
09:10like so many others Mitchell van den Brink had tire trouble but now leads overall after Alish Lopreis
09:16lost 13 minutes today
09:25and tomorrow we're back with the picture-perfect postcard ready landscapes of this cradle of
09:33civilization Alula look out for astonishing sandscapes extraordinary rock formations sculptured by the
09:39passage of time and of course loads of really fast cars and bikes going hell for leather through the
09:44desert catch you then rally fans
