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Bengaluru, January 19: Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah won the 12th stage of the Dakar Rally between Chilecito and San Juan in Argentina even as Carlos Sainz took a giant stride towards winning a second FIA title.
Al Attiyah won the 523km timed special stage in his Toyota Hilux ahead of defending champion Stephane Peterhansel in a Peugeot while Giniel de Villiers, in another Toyota, brought up the last spot on the podium.
⏱ 📃 PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION #Dakar2018 - Stage 12:
— Peugeot Sport (@peugeotsport) January 18, 2018
1.Al Attiyah 7h19'57''
2⃣Peterhansel +02'03''
3.De Villiers +04'33''
4.Terranova +05'56''
5.Ten Brinke +07'53''
6.Hirvonen +12'15''
7.Al Qassimi +12'33''
8.Przygonski +14'51''
9⃣Sainz +18'07''
🔟Despres +21'37'' pic.twitter.com/077r1lWnH1
Sainz, who looks well poised to win the Dakar played it safe and finished ninth. With an ample cushion at the front of the race, Sainz was able to drive a tactically astute stage which saw him concede only 16 minutes to his nearest rival.
"We went pretty easy, but towards the end we had a puncture and some gearbox problems, but everything is fine because we've finished the stage which is what matters," said the Spaniard, who still holds an overall lead of 44 minutes over Peugeot team-mate Peterhansel in the standings.
📃 PROV. OVERALL CLASS. #Dakar2018 - After Stage 12:
— Peugeot Sport (@peugeotsport) January 18, 2018
1⃣@CSainz_oficial 42h24m31s
2⃣@s_peterhansel +44m41s
3.Al Attiyah +1h05m55s
4.Ten Brinke +1h17m21s
5.De Villiers +1h26m31s
6.Przygonski +2h51m02s
7.Al Qassimi +3m20m45s
8.Prokop +6h04m26s
TBC:@cyrildespres +45h00m53s pic.twitter.com/CgMw3wQN4f
Defending champion Peterhansel, conceded that the title race was all but over.
"I think it's finished now," said the Frenchman, whose hopes suffered a severe blow earlier in the rally when he lost an hour and 45 minutes in Bolivia.
Pre-rally favourite Al Attiyah staged a good comeback and the 12th stage win virtually assures the Toyota Gazzo Racing SA driver of a sixth Dakar podium finish.
"On the second part we tried to push, but just to keep third place overall. We finished today with two flat tyres. I think we lost four minutes, maybe three and a half... yeah, four minutes. It wasn't easy," said two-time champion Al Attiyah.
The penultimate stage of the rally heads to Cordoba on Friday (January 19) where the race will eventually end on Saturday (January 20).
Before the chequered flag falls there are still two days of intense racing which has already seen high-profile retirements like that of Sebastien Loeb and Andre Villas Boas and Al Attiyah has not given up hope of a third Dakar crown.
"We still have two days left and we'll see what we can do. There are a few minutes between us and everything is possible," the Red Bull athlete added.
(With Agency and Red Bull Media inputs).
