Nacho Cornejo grabbed a Stage two win at the Dakar Rally which got underway Saturday. Stage two took competitors from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi in Saudi Arabia. Luciano Benavides came in second in the bike class. Ross Branch’s opening stage win has earned him the overall current lead in the rankings, but it’s very early in the Rally and there are hundreds of miles still yet to be ridden.
The four wheeled vehicles had a rough time in Stage two. The day belonged to Stephane Peterhansel in his Audi. Peterhansel has 14 Dakar Rally wins on his career resume. “Today, we set a decent time and had fun in the cockpit, with nice tracks and dunes in the morning. No flats today, no navigation blunders either, so it was a good stage,” said Peterhansel. Finishing in second was Sebastien Loeb. Seth Quintero and co-driver Dennis Zenz rounded out the final podium spot in third. Carlos Sainz sits atop the rally leader board going into Stage three.
Over in the SSV class, Spanish driver Gerard Farres Guell took top honors on the podium racing Can-Am in the rally. Mitch Guthrie Jr. finished in third in the challenger class and Sara Price has moved up the overall standings in fourth going into Stage three back in the SSV class with several fierce competitors ahead of her.
