The second stage of the Fenix Rally ran past Tozeur, a town in Tunisia that was used as the stand-in for Tatooine in Star Wars. Unfortunately for Gaëtan Martinez, his engine became one with the Force.

Fresh off winning the World Rally-Raid Championship in the Quad category, Martinez had been running at speed in Stage 2’s second half when the motor blew. His teammate and W2RC points runner-up Antanas Kanopkinas towed him for 15 kilometers back to the road, where a media car pulled him to the bivouac.

Martinez did not finish the stage as a result. As the only other rider entered in the Quad class, Kanopkinas basically just needs to avoid DNFing any of the five remaining legs to ensure he wins.

“I pulled over and we started looking for the problem. First, we checked the belt, but it looked like new, and the engine just wouldn’t start,” Martinez recalled. Upon reviewing what happened, he and his team suspected poor fuel quality might have degraded the engine. CFMOTO plans to replace the unit ahead of Sunday’s action.

Besides the assist, Kanopkinas had problems of his own when the navigation system failed. The electronic roadbook had also glitched out repeatedly for many during Stage 1, and the issue also extended on Saturday to drivers like Vincent Thijs who lost 15 minutes from having to drive blindly without his.

After rolling on Friday, Richard Cretier was forced to retire from the race for good because of electrical issues inside his truggy. The team tried to repair the vehicle, but much of the body couldn’t be fixed on site. Cretier and navigator Sandra Rivière still plan to be on site to support their teammate Gaëtan Gé.

Nikola Hristov bowed out after his “steering left the chat”, having finished eighth in SSV in Stage 1. Friday’s Car Limited victor Sascha Capraro did not finish as well.

Feryn Dakar Sport had a rough saturday. Pascal Feryn’s clutch came off a second time and knocked him out for good. Teammate Koen Wauters ran well until a checkpoint failed to be validated despite crossing it four times, costing him eight minutes.

“We’re driving a completely rebuilt car here, essentially a new one,” said Feryn. “We’ll also be participating in the Africa Eco Race with this car. It’s really good, but there’s one problem. Our mechanics have been looking for a solution, but ultimately we decided not to continue [Fenix]. We would’ve had to start last on Sunday, and a huge race just to catch up awaited us.

“Once the car is back in Leest, we’ll install a high-pressure line with a new clutch. The problem should be solved after that and the car will be ready for the Africa Eco Race.”

Kanopkinas and Edvard Sokolovskij are the only competitors with perfect stage win rates after two days. Sokolovskij beat Christian Pastori by 6:51.

Nicolas Martinez held off fellow French driver Matthieu Marconnett by 1:29 to win SSV. On the Car side, Agostino Rizzardi beat FIA Baja regular Magdalena Zając for the Open stage victory by a comfortable five and a half minutes. Abdul el Karim Ben Hassan won Car Limited by even bigger with an hour and a half over Ewald Holler.

Gerrit Zuurmond beat Tom Heuer by eight minutes to win Truck. This is Rainbow Truck Team’s maiden Fenix Rally as they prepare for the AER, and Zuurmond’s first time driving a truck with an automatic gearbox instead of the manual that he’s used to.

Stage 2 winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Total Time
Car Open	229	Agostino Rizzardi	CountrysideWays	2:38:47.45
Car Limited	221	Abdul el Karim Ben Hassan	Tunis Automobile Club	3:22:13.67
SSV	418	Nicolas Martinez	Aravis Rallye Raid	2:41:00.26
Truck	507	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	3:15:28.84
Enduro	91	Edvard Sokolovskij	AG Dakar School	2:50:15.77
ATV	10	Antanas Kanopkinas	CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team	4:19:12.83
Discovery	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	DNF

Featured image credit: CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team