Editor’s note: Check out expanded video highlights of Stage 13 Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Carlos Sainz is nearing his second Dakar Rally victory while Nasser Al-Attiyah strengthened his bid for second by winning Friday’s 13th stage of the endurance race.
Sainz finished sixth in his Team Peugeot ride and holds a lead of 46:18 over Al-Attiyah’s Toyota.
“I tried to play it safe, even if there were plenty of tricky parts,” said Sainz, who won the Dakar Rally in 2010 but had failed to finish the past five races because of mechanical problems. “Since the start, there has been a lot of drama in this race and it’s not over until we’ve crossed the finishing line. It’s not a crazy Dakar, but it’s very difficult. I hope everything will go OK (Saturday).”
Defending race winner Stephane Peterhansel is in fourth overall, trailing by 1:28:08 after crashing and finishing 20th in the penultimate stage. The Frenchman has a record 13 overall wins in the Dakar but is unlikely to earn another despite rebounding well from a crash in the seventh stage that had knocked him from the overall lead.
In other divisions, Eduard Nikolaev (trucks), Matthias Walkner (motorcycles), Ignacio Casale (Quads) and Reinaldo Varela (SxS UTV) are on the cusp of capturing overall wins entering the final stage.
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STAGE 13 RESULTS, CARS
- Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, Toyota, 5:02:22
- Argentina’s Lucio ALvarez, Toyota, 5:13:38
- South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, Toyota: 5:15:28
- Poland’s Jakub Przygonski, X-Raid, 5:17:29
- Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen, X-Raid, 5:21:46
OVERALL
- Spain’s Carlos Sainz
- Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, 46:18 behind
- South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, 1:20:00 behind
- France’s Stephane Peterhansel, 1:28:08 behind
- Poland’s Jakub Przygonski, 2:46:32 behind
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TRUCKS
- Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev, Kamaz, 5:59:02
- Russia’s Airat Mardeev, 5:59:52
- Czech Republic’s Martin Kolomy, Tatra, 6:05:08
- Belarus’s Siarhei Vlazovich, 6:26:47
- Czech Republic’s Dmitry Sotnikov, 6:31:56
OVERALL
- Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev
- Belarus’s Siarhei Vlazovich, 3:53:59 behind
- Russia’s Airat Mardeev, 5:21:05
- Czech Republic’s Martin Kolomy, 9:01:18
- Czech Republic’s Dmitry Sotnikov, 10:04:29
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MOTORCYCLES
- Australia’s Toby Price, KTM, 4:48:33
- Argentina’s Kevin Benavides, Honda, 4:50:36
- France’s Antoine Meo, KTM, 4:51:17
- Austria’s Matthias Walkner, KTM, 5:00:05
- Spain’s Juan Pedrero Garcia, 5:03:45
AMERICAN RIDERS
15th: Mark Samuels (Honda), 5:19:40
18th: Shane Esposito (KTM), 5:27:14
37th: Andrew Short (Husqvarna), 5:58:14
68th: Bill Conger (Husqvarna), 7:16:00
OVERALL
- Austria’s Matthias Walkner
- Argentina’s Kevin Benavides, 22:31 behind
- Australia’s Toby Price, 27:45
- France’s Antoine Meo, 50:17
- Spain’s Gerard Farres, 1:01:19
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QUADS
- Argentina’s Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli, 5:55:16
- Paraguay’s Nelson Augusto Sanabria Galeano, 5:58:34
- Chile’s Ignacio Casale, 5:59:19
- Argentina’s Nicolas Cavigliasso, 6:02:22
- Brazil’s Marcelo Medeiros, 6:02:23
OVERALL
- Chile’s Ignacio Casale
- Argentina’s Nicolas Cavigliasso, 1:37:16 behind
- Argentina’s Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli, 2:05:12
- Brazil’s Marcelo Medeiros, 4:25:26
- Peru’s Alexis Hernandez, 4:34:37
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SxS UTV
- France’s Patricie Garrouste, Polaris, 6:29:40
- Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela, Can-Am, 6:39:39
- France’s Claude Fournier, Polaris, 7:33:17
- Spain’s Jose Pena Campos, Polaris, 7:41:200
OVERALL
- Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela
- France’s Patricie Garroueste, 53:28 behind
- France’s Claude Fournier, 10:02:12
- Spain’s Jose Pena Campos, 10:06:01
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SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
Champions in all five classes will be crowned Saturday after the 14th and final stage concludes in Cordoba, Argentina.
MORE: Dakar Rally daily stages schedule, NBCSN broadcast schedule, list of all competitors.
MORE: Stage 9 cancelled due to weather, impassible course conditions