The penultimate day of the 2019 Dakar Rally started and finished in Pisco with a loop stage exploring the
from an entirely new perspective.
Stage 9 started with an 80 km dune sector, followed by a series of coastal dunes separated by the Subida de los Burros ascent and another sequence of dunes with three fearsome massifs in the final 100 km.
Bike
Michael Metge took advantage of the stalemate among the leaders to clinch his first Dakar stage win.
It was a great day for the French rider and Sherco, who managed to break the KTM-Honda duopoly.
"It was a very long stage for me. We started in the second line with
Daniel Nosiglia and we stayed together throughout the stage, attacking very much. I made some navigation mistakes, but we kept a good rhythm and, in the end, we caught the first line," Metge expressed.
Quad
The young Argentinian was five minutes faster than his countryman today, but Cavigliasso still holds a lead of 1 h 40 in the general classification on the eve of the finish in Lima.
Car
Nasser Al-Attiyah couldn't have asked for a better scenario on the eve of the finale. The overall leader took his third stage win in this year's edition, beating
Nani Roma by five minutes and increasing his lead over the Spaniard in the general classification to 51 minutes.
Barring any last-minute surprises, the overall leader will stand on the top step of the Dakar podium for the third time tomorrow after taking his 34th stage win today.
"We saw
Sebastien and I didn't know about 'Peter', we just got the information on the finish line. I hope he's okay. Today was very difficult, not easy, with a lot of soft sand, but we took it easy and did a good job. I'm quite happy," the Qatar driver stated.
"Until now everything has gone very well, and tomorrow we just need to bring everything (together) in Lima. I'm quite happy," he added.
SxS
Reinaldo Varela has struggled throughout the 2019 Dakar, but the Can-Am driver proved he remains as fast as ever with a second stage win.
The defending champion beat
Gerard Farres by three minutes, while overall leader
"Chaleco" Lopez raced conservatively to finish 11'26" back.
Truck
Sotnikov finished 27 minutes behind the new leader.
Performance of the day
Throughout his first six participations in the Dakar, Michael Metge has had first-row tickets to other people's victories. After scouts saw him in the enduro championships, he was quickly recruited as a water carrier for top riders, including
Cyril Despres at Yamaha and
Joan Barreda at Honda.
On several occasions, the man from Nîmes had got so close to glory that he could almost taste it, only to be denied at the last minute.
Now racing in a leadership role for French maker Sherco, Metge capitalized on his advantageous starting position in the second wave this morning to beat the stars of the rally to the line.
(END) RMB