Carlos Sainz moved a step closer to Dakar Rally victory by winning stage 12, although closest rival Nasser Al-Attiyah was less than a minute slower.
Al-Attiyah had carved into Volkswagen teammate Sainz's advantage on stage 11, narrowing the gap from 10 to four and a half minutes as the Spaniard struggled with punctures.
But Sainz responded with a vengeance on the San Juan to San Rafael stage. Last year this was the day on which Sainz crashed out while holding a lead of nearly half an hour, but he set the pace from the outset this year.
Al-Attiyah closed in through the final sections of the stage – the last six kilometers of which had to be run in non-competitive conditions due to the huge volume of spectators at the finish – and was eventually only 52sec slower. The gap between the pair therefore stands at 5m20s with just two stages to go.
VW maintains its top-three formation overall, with Mark Miller in third, while X-raid BMW driver Stephane Peterhansel is still the best of the rest in fourth. Peterhansel's teammate Guerlain Chicherit, who had won yesterday's stage, had a scare when a suspension breakage cost him over an hour and a half, but he remains fifth overall.
Stage 12:
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Carlos Sainz VW 3h30m29s
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah VW + 52s
3. Mark Miller VW + 4m22s
4. Stephane Peterhansel BMW + 10m49s
5. Robby Gordon Hummer + 10m56s
6. Nicolas Misslin Mitsubishi + 17m58s
7. Carlos Sousa Mitsubishi + 19m13s
8. Orlando Terranova Mitsubishi + 21m50s
9. Giniel de Villiers VW + 25m21s
10. Guilherme Spinelli Mitsubishi + 26m57s
Overall:
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Carlos Sainz VW 42h47m24s
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah VW + 5m20s
3. Mark Miller VW + 28m12s
4. Stephane Peterhansel BMW + 2h20m42s
5. Guerlain Chicherit BMW + 4h02m50s
6. Carlos Sousa Mitsubishi + 4h13m25s
7. Giniel de Villiers VW + 5h04m54s
8. Robby Gordon Hummer + 5h52m34s
9. Guilherme Spinelli Mitsubishi + 5h55m22s
10. Orlando Terranova Mitsubishi + 5h55m32s
