Dakar director flew into stage to help drivers after roadbook error

The director of the Dakar Rally personally made sure competitors were able to find the correct route on Stage 7 after a mistake was found in the roadbook.

Several drivers struggled to validate a waypoint a third of the way into Sunday’s 418km test in Al Duwadimi, with many going off course as they religiously followed the roadbook supplied by organiser ASO.

It was later discovered that the digital booklet the navigators were relying on had an error, forcing Dakar to neutralise a 20km section of the stage to make the competition fair for everyone.

“An incorrect roadbook note for km 158 of the special has caused several drivers at the front of the field to lose their bearings,” a statement from the event read.

“A segment of about 20 km before and after this point will therefore be delimited at the finish of the car special at the bivouac in Al Duwadimi, erasing any gains or losses made in this part of the stage.”

Now, it has emerged that Dakar director David Castera himself got on a helicopter and flew into the stage to help the drivers that had got struck. He provided visual signals to ensure they found the correct route and validated the problematic checkpoint without losing any further time.

Following the decision to neutralise the section affected by the roadbook error, Dakar also issued an updated classification, deducting the time some drivers had lost while they tried to find the way.

Toyota’s Henk Lategan, Dacia star Nasser Al-Attiyah and Overdrive racer Yazeed Al-Rajhi all moved up the order after Dakar updated the standings for the day.

The stage was eventually won by factory Toyota driver Lucas Moraes, with Ford duo Mattias Ekstrom and Mitchell Guthrie finishing second and third respectively.

Lategan languished down in 15th place, allowing Al-Rajhi in the customer Toyota to slash his advantage in the overall standings to just 21 seconds. Ekstrom holds third place in the general classification, while Al-Attiyah sits 22 minutes down in fourth.

Dakar resumes on Monday with a 487km stage between Al-Duwadimi and Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. As was the case on Sunday, drivers in the Ultimate category will again follow a completely different route to their two-wheel counterparts.