The first stage of Dakar2016 was canceled this Sunday due to «extreme weather conditions» along the route, in Argentina, which prevented the safety device from moving to the region where the journey was taking place, announced the race director Etienne Lavigne.
According to a statement released by the organization on the official website of Dakar2016, “the deluge that fell in the first hours left the route unrecognizable. Several rivers formed along the special, flooding the track and making it impassable. To make matters worse, the aircraft were unable to take off due to thick low clouds, leaving race director Étienne Lavigne with only one realistic option: to cancel the stage when it was already underway.
“The Dakar doesn't stop when it rains, but when the usual safety device cannot be guaranteed. Weather conditions are very bad. The plane [which ensures radio communications] cannot fly, helicopters cannot take off and the situation will not improve,” said Etienne Lavigne, speaking to AFP.
The departure of the timed section, scheduled for 7:00 am local time, was initially delayed due to bad weather, which even forced the steering helicopter to land about 60 kilometers from the site.
The organization expected an improvement in conditions at the end of the morning, but ended up canceling the stage, so the caravan will be redirected through an alternative connecting route.
The organization explains, in a statement posted on its website, that competitors are now going to Villa Carlos Paz, in accordance with the rules for connections between stages. Motorbikes and quads will make this convoy route, while cars are allowed to travel on their own.
The trucks have not yet left the camp in Rosario, so they are heading for the place where today's stage should end, following the route for the assistance vehicles.
It goes without saying that there were no changes in the standings and the start of the 2nd stage will be done tomorrow based on the places at the end of yesterday's prologue: Joan Barreda (Honda), Ruben Faria (Husqvarna) and Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha), respectively 1st, 2nd and 3rd will take the lead on the bikes, and Bernhard ten Brinke (Toyota) will be the first car.
Ruben Faria stresses that, «with the cancellation of the stage, we covered about 500 kilometers on tarmac, under torrential rain. Forecasts for tomorrow continue to be of rain».
The cancellation of this Sunday's stage forces the Algarve driver and his Husqvarna team to rethink their tactics: «with the cancellation of the stage, our strategy will have to be revised», adds Ruben.
Tomorrow's stage, which will (hopefully) connect Villa Carlos Paz to Termas de Río Hondo, will be complicated, to say the least. An initial 70 km connecting section will take competitors to the start of the second special, the longest of the 2016 edition.
With 510 km of simple but fast tracks on the menu for cars and trucks, and 450 km for motorcycles and quads, the first differences between the favorites in each category may appear. The end of the special is about 250 km from Termas de Río Hondo.
This year, due to the intensification of the El Niño weather phenomenon, South America has been buffeted by bad weather, which has even led Chile to withdraw from the organization of the 2016 Dakar.
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