The length of the sixth stage was reduced to nothing due to the poor racing conditions prevailing on the route of the Motorcycles and Quads categories. The classification pending, Danilo Petrucci should not however follow up with a second success in a row following a fall which occurred shortly after starting.
The entrants in the Motorcycles and Quads categories will finally have been “on the weekend” earlier than expected! The sixth stage and its 216 km of special were in fact interrupted almost halfway, after only a hundred kilometers due to the very poor condition of the route, which posed safety problems for the competitors.
It is true that two-wheelers and quads had to take today the same route followed yesterday by cars and trucks, in a loop located west of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. But the ruts created by vehicles, combined with the severe weather that has hit the country in recent days, have made the terrain purely and simply impassable.
Petrucci entry drop
For exemple the winner of the day before, Danilo Petrucci (KTM), who probably thought, like many observers, that he would once again benefit from an advantage by setting off first on the special due to the sweeping of the track carried out the day before by the four-wheelers, fell From the start, after only three minutes of driving (it was, moreover, his second accident in as many days after his fall yesterday while avoiding a... camel!). Italian was however able to leave, suffering only minimal loss of time following this incident.
Too bad for the spectacle, especially since this last event before the rest day scheduled for tomorrow was not lacking in interest, between its numerous track crossings reinforcing the difficulty of navigation and the diversity of its profile, with the presence of numerous dunes in the middle of the course before a more rolling finale.
The spectators will therefore be at their expense, but the safety of the event logically takes precedence after a first stage interruption yesterday when the air rescue means deployed seemed insufficient to ensure the safety of the drivers and their possible crews, all in a context of threat of cancellation of the event following the so far unexplained explosion of a support vehicle on the sidelines of the race.
Sanders in a good position
So what can we say about the little competition that took place today in the Motorcycle category? First that Daniel Sanders (GasGas) showed himself to be very dashing by being the fastest over the hundred or so kilometers covered, just as he had already been yesterday before slowing down. Pointed in the lead at kilometer 40, the Australian then pushed his advantage to the second boundary (km 81), then having a lead of 1'26 over Matthias Walkner (KTM). Followed by the leader of the general, Sam sunderland (GasGas), Toby Price (KTM) and Pablo Quintanilla (Sling).
When the stage was neutralized, the gaps were particularly small, only five minutes covering a top 15 completed by the Sherco of Rui Gonçalves and Lorenzo Santolino. It must be said that the first drivers to venture onto the route experienced great difficulties, due both to the specific characteristics of this special and to the racing conditions, with the drivers “gardening” particularly around kilometer 100.
Enough to lead the organizers to stop the event and establish the classification according to the passage times at km 101, of which we are still awaiting confirmation.
