Spanish driver Nani Roma survived a late puncture on his Mini to claim his third stage win of this year’s Dakar Rally on Thursday, while Stephane Peterhansel stayed comfortably on course for an 11th title.
Roma won the 319km timed section from Fiambala, Argentina, to the Chilean town of Copiapo in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 34 seconds, a lead of 4 minutes, 18 seconds over Robby Gordon of the US in a Hummer and a 4:25 advantage on South Africa’s Toyota driver Giniel de Villiers.
However, Peterhansel, who was fourth on the stage, six minutes behind Roma, stayed in overall charge with a 50:21 lead over De Villiers with two stages left.
Photo: AFP
Roma had a scare in the closing minutes with a worrying blowout, but it was not enough to derail him.
“To start there were some dunes, some very fast parts, but in the last dunes we got stuck and we lost around eight or 10 minutes, I don’t know exactly,” said Peterhansel, the defending champion.
“We got a bit stressed inside the car, but then it was OK. Yes, for sure we can smell victory, but I can remember two times when I have lost the Dakar just on the last day, so we know that anything can happen. I could make a mistake, we could have some technical problems. So there are still two days left,” he said.
In the motorcycling section, Dutch Yamaha rider Frans Verhoeven won his fourth career stage in 3.49:15, but defending champion Cyril Despres, on a KTM, stayed on course for a fifth title.
Despres leads the overall standings by 5:39 from Portuguese teammate Ruben Faria, who was second on Thursday.
“I didn’t want to open the track today, so I let them go. It was also important for me today to try and help Ruben,” said Despres, who was 14th on Thursday, more than nine minutes behind Verhoeven.
“He’s been helping me for the Dakar 2010, 2011, 2012 and also 2013, so today I decided to help him to try and stay in second place overall. I think he did well and I’m happy for us,” Despres added.
The 13th stage, the penultimate before the race concludes in Santiago today, was set to be the longest of the race, covering 735km in total, with 441km forming the timed run.
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
RSS