2023 Dakar Rally: Weather forces Stages 6 and 7 modifications

Mother Nature has not been kind towards the 2023 Dakar Rally. Due to rain causing flooding at the bivouac in Dawadmi, thereby preventing teams from setting up shop there, Stage #6 on Thursday has been shortened by approximately 100 kilometres.

Stage #6 was originally a 876.68-km run from Ḥa’il to Dawadmi. Afterwards, the race will head to Riyadh on a 300-km liaison route where they will run Stage #7 on the same Special Stage layout that was initially scheduled for the eighth leg. Should the weather improve upon completion of the revised Stage #7, teams will return to Dawadmi.

Further actions for the new Stage #8 onwards are contingent on weather conditions.

Heavy rain has resulted in a significantly different atmosphere from the traditional desert environment. Al-‘Ula and Ḥa’il were also impacted by showers, causing Stage #2 from the Sea Camp to Al-‘Ula to be especially challenging for the competitors. The third leg from Al’Ula to Ḥa’il was shortened from 477 to 377 km when rain made it impossible for rescue helicopters to attend to racers; the downpour also generated a massive wadi that trapped the T3s of Cristina Gutiérrez and Francisco López Contardo, prompting Martin van den Brink, Gert Huzink, Janus van Kasteren, and Aleš Loprais to pull them out using their trucks. The quartet received time deductions for their efforts; Huzink and van den Brink finished the stage 1–2 in T5.

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