Eventful Stage 5 was a proper Dakar day, says SA’s Henk Lategan

South Africans Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings achieved their maiden Dakar Rally stage win on Thursday. The Toyota Gazoo Racing crew had an eventful Stage 5 in their Hilux, including a problem with the driver’s door and two punctures, but still set the fastest time over the stage, besting their nearest competitors by 1 min 58 sec.

The crew came close to a stage victory during the previous stage, but a broken wheel hub put paid to their efforts, sending them tumbling down the overall order. The pair had arrived in the bivouac at 10pm after Stage 4, and left for the start at Stage 5 just after 6am. Despite the lack of sleep, they pushed hard throughout Stage 5, and reaped the reward of a stage win. They are still in 35th place in the overall rankings, after losing hours on Stage 1B and again on Stage 4.

Henk Lategan enthused: “This was a proper Dakar day! It started early in the stage, when my door suddenly opened. I don’t know what happened, but it looks like the latch is gone. I drove holding the door closed with my one hand up until the first decontrol. There, I zip-tied the door closed as best as I could, and set off on the stage again, only to get a puncture. This posed a problem, as I had to clamber out through the co-driver’s door in order to help change the wheel. We set off again, just to get a second puncture later in the stage. This one posed a bigger problem, as the second spare was located under my seat, which meant we had to cut the cable ties to get to the spare.

“Overall, we expected to lose time on the stage, but when we got to the finish, we heard that we’d posted the fastest time. I couldn’t believe it, but I’m ecstatic to have won my first Dakar stage.”

Stage 5 also saw Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel maintain their position at the top of the overall standings. The pair were the first car into Stage 5, having won Stage 4 the previous day. This meant that they had to open the road on a stage where there were no motorbike tracks to aid navigation, and when their nearest competitor caught up with them, the Toyota Hilux crew elected to complete the final 100km of the stage together with the competitor.

As a result, they restricted their time loss on the stage to just 3min, and remain in the lead, more than 35min clear of the opposition. With one stage to go before the mid-point of Dakar 2022, Nasser and Mathieu are well-placed in the rally, and they’ll have a good road position (8th) for Stage 6.

5 hour penalty for De Villiers

Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy were handed a 5hr penalty after an incident with a biker in Stage 2 of the rally, sending them down the order in the overall standings. The pair continued to push their limits on Stage 5, posting the 7th-fastest time on the day. They recorded a clean run, with no mechanical problems or punctures, but the penalty sees them down in 33rd place in the overall standings.

The stage also brought a good result for Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen, who had struggled with a run of bad luck earlier in the rally. They started Stage 5 at a good pace, before a puncture slowed them down once again. In the end, a navigational challenge cost them nearly 15min, however, and they finished the stage in 23rd position, 21min 7sec behind Henk and Brett. Despite the time loss, their performance was good enough to move them into the Top 20 of the rally overall, and they are now in 19th place, 3hr 7min behind Nasser and Mathieu.

The bivouac will remain in place near Riyadh for Stage 6 of the 2022 Dakar Rally, as well as the upcoming Rest Day on January 8th. Stage 6 will see the crews complete a liaison of 89km prior to the start of the stage, with another liaison of 128km after the timed section. In between lies a test of 348km, incorporating dunes, sandy tracks and a large portion of hard-packed soil.

This is the last stage prior to the Rest Day, where the race crews will get one day to recuperate, before tackling the second half of the rally. During the Rest Day, the technical crews will strip all the race cars, before reassembling them in preparation for the final push towards the finish in Jeddah, on January 14th.

“What a day for South African motorsport! We have new stage winners in the form of Henk and Brett, and we are extremely proud of their performance today,” said Team Principal Glynn Hall.

“They came close yesterday, but today they managed to make a dream come true, despite some setbacks along the way. It was also a good day for Nasser and Mathieu, who managed to retain their overall lead despite opening the road on one of the trickiest stages of the race so far. Giniel and Dennis had a perfectly clean stage, and posted an excellent stage time, while Shameer and Danie showed good form to move into the Top 20 in the overall standings.”

Henk Lategan enthused: “This was a proper Dakar day! It started early in the stage, when my door suddenly opened. I don’t know what happed, but it looks like the latch is gone. I drove holding the door closed with my one hand up until the first decontrol. There, I zip-tied the door closed as best as I could, and set off on the stage again, only to get a puncture. This posed a problem, as I had to clamber out through the co-driver’s door in order to help change the wheel. We set off again, just to get a second puncture later in the stage. This one posed a bigger problem, as the second spare was located under my seat, which meant we had to cut the cable ties to get to the spare.

Stage 5 Results:

1. Lategan (ZAF) / Cummings (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Hilux 3hr 53min 28sec

2. Loeb (FRA) / Lurquin (BEL) BRX Prodrive Hunter +1min 58sec

3. Alvarez (ARG) / Monleon (ESP) Benzina Orlen Toyota Hilux +2min 10sec

4. Serradori (FRA) / Minaudier (FRA) SRT Racing CR-6 +2min 24sec

5. Chicherit (FRA) / Winocw (FRA) GCK Motorsport Buggy +2min 59sec

7. De Villiers (ZAF) / Murphy (ZAF) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Hilux +4min 29sec

8. Al Attiyah (QAT) / Baumel (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Hilux +4min 53sec

Rankings after Stage 5:

1. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Baumel (AND) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Hilux 17h 24min 23sec

2. Loeb (FRA) / Lurquin (BEL) BRX Prodrive Hunter +35min 10sec

3. Alvarez (ARG) / Monleon (ESP) Benzina Orlen Toyota Hilux +51min 15sec