Having finished 14th in Saturday’s Prologue, Peterhansel had been running an impressive second in his electric Audi RS Q e-tron, just six seconds behind overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah of Toyota.
But, passing through a winding rocky track 153km into the stage near Ha’il, the Frenchman broke the rear axle of his Audi RS Q e-tron after hitting “something” in an area of camel grass.
Both Peterhansel and his co-driver Edouard Boulanger were unhurt in the crash, but were stranded for 6h20m as they waited for outside assistance.
First, they dismantled the entire left rear axle to clear the way for the mechanics of their assistance truck.
#200 Team Audi Sport: Stéphane Peterhansel, Edouard Boulanger, crash
Photo by: A.S.O.
Once the truck arrived and managed to replace the broken parts, the Frenchmen continued their way through the stage.
But 40km later they lost another half an hour with an unknown issue, and decided to leave the stage at the neutralisation point located at the…
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