Dakar Rally Stage 12: Leads close in Cars and Trucks; just 2 stages remain

By
Jerry Bonkowski,

By
Jerry Bonkowski

Published January 18, 2018 07:06 PM

2018 Dakar Rally - Day Twelve — UNSPECIFIED, ARGENTINA - JANUARY 18: Bernhard Ten Brinke of the Netherlands and Toyota Gazoo Racing drives with co-driver Michel Perin of France in the Toyota Car in the Classe : T1.1 : 4x4 Essence during stage twelve of the 2018 Dakar Rally between Fiambala, Chilecito and San Juan on January 18, 2018 in UNSPECIFIED, Argentina. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Editor’s note: Check out expanded video highlights of Stage 12 Friday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

After playing offense through much of the first 11 stages (not including the washed-out Stage 9 on Monday), as contenders move closer to the conclusion of the 40th Dakar Rally, there’s a definite move to playing defense.

A perfect example of that is Spain’s Carlos Sainz in the Cars class. During Thursday’s Stage 12, Sainz was in a defensive mode to preserve his lead in the overall standings.

But while Sainz was playing defense, France’s Stephane Peterhansel could do nothing but be on the offensive, cutting nearly 16 minutes off Sainz’ overall lead.

While Sainz still leads by 45 minutes, anything can happen in the remaining two stages on Friday and Saturday. One thing is certain: Sainz has learned quite a few lessons from his previous five appearances in the Rally, never reaching it to the finish line.

The main thing is not only defense, but also patience, as he readily put on display Thursday.

In the final two stages, Sainz will once again have to play defense to maintain his overall lead, but his four closest challengers – Peterhansel, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah (who won Thursday’s stage, his third of this year’s Rally), the Netherlands’ Bernhard ten Brinke and South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers – will be going all-out.

The winner of the last two Rallys, Peterhansel, however, has seemingly all but conceded the overall win in the class to Sainz.

“It’s finished now,” he said. “For sure, we will try to secure second place, so we controlled the gap with Nasser.

“I’m crossing my fingers for (second) but also for Carlos. After the big damage to the car that we got on the marathon stage (seven), we lost approximately one hour and forty-five minutes, so coming back into second place is OK.”

Also of note, Thursday’s stage was cancelled for motorcycles and quads due to weather conditions.

Here’s the Stage 12 results, as well as updated overall rankings:

Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, Toyota, 5:49:57

France’s Stephane Peterhansel, Peugeot, 5:52:00

South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, Toyota: 5:54:30

Argentina’s Orlando Terranova, Mini, 5:55:53

The Netherlands’ Bernhard ten Brinke, Toyota, 5:57:50

OVERALL

Spain’s Carlos Sainz

France’s Stephane Peterhansel, 44:41 behind

Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, 1:05:55 behind

The Netherlands’ Bernhard ten Brinke, 1:17:21 behind

South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, 1:26:31 behind

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TRUCKS

Ton van Genugten won his second stage of this year’s Rally on Thursday, followed by the Czech Republic’s Martin Kolomy and Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev.

But the biggest news is how Argentina’s Federico Villagra closed to within one second of overall leader Nikolaev. It’s a guarantee the last two stages will be shootouts between the two competitors.

Here’s the Stage 12 results, as well as updated overall rankings:

Netherland’s Ton van Genugten, Iveco, 7:02:36

Czech Republic’s Martin Kolomy, Tatra, 7:06:47

Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev, Kamaz, 7:08:57

Argentina’s Federico Villagra, Iveco, 7:10:05

Kazakhstan’s Artur Ardavichus, Iveco, 7:17:50

OVERALL

Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev

Argentina’s Federico Villagra, 0:00:01

Belarus’s Siarhei Vlazovich, 3:26:14 behind

Russia’s Airat Mardeev, 5:20:15 behind

Netherland’s Ton van Genugten, 5:23:40 behind

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BIKES

Weather prevented the bikes from taking to the course for Thursday’s Stage 12.

Here’s the overall standings as they were after Stage 11 and remain the same going into Friday’s Stage 13.

OVERALL

Austria’s Matthias Walkner

Argentina’s Kevin Benavides, 32:00 behind

Australia’s Toby Price, 39:17 behind

Spain’s Gerard Farres, 49:17 behind

France’s Antoine Meo, 59:05 behind

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QUADS

Weather prevented the Quads from taking to the course for Thursday’s Stage 12.

Here’s the overall standings as they were after Stage 11 and remain the same going into Friday’s Stage 13.

Chile’s Ignacio Casale

Argentina’s Nicolas Cavigliasso, 1:34:13 behind

Argentina’s Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli, 2:09:15 behind

France’s Alex Dutrie, 3:56:48 behind

Brazil’s Marcelo Medeiros, 4:22:22 behind

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SxS UTV

Weather conditions also impacted the UTV class, with entries taking nearly 50 percent double the time it normally would under better weather and track conditions.

Here’s the Stage 12 results, as well as updated overall rankings: