Cars stage 13 news from Dakar day before finish

Dakar 2012 - Argentina/ Chile / Peru  Stage 13  January 14th, 2012




13:24 - car  Finish: Top 8

More and more drivers have reached the finish after Stéphane Peterhansel, giving a clearer view of the classification:


Giniel de Villiers is still second 8'29" back, Leonid Novitskiy still sits third 12'55" back, followed by Carlos Souza in the provisional fourth place 13'39" back, Álvarez in fifth 14'57" back. Leal dos Santos lost 15'04" after helping Nani Roma.


Behind him lies Nani Roma himself, who lost 22'57" on the dunes, and Robby Gordon, who got stuck in the sand, did a somersault and had a flat tyre, causing him to lose 36'01" in the penultimate special of the 2012 Dakar.


In the general classification, status quo on the podium, with the gap between the leaders widening to 42'57", allowing De Villiers to get to within just over half an hour of Roma.


Novitskiy climbs to fourth thanks to Gordon's mishaps.


12:58 - car 319 - Álvarez fourth

Argentina's Lucio Ezequiel Álverez (Toyota) has taken fourth place at the end of today's special, 14'57" behind leader Stéphane Peterhansel.



12:55 - car 301 - De Villiers crosses the finishing line first, Peterhansel takes the scratch

He was probably one of those who performed best in today's special, with the toughest part at the end.

The South African and his Toyota crossed the finishing line first, but Stéphane Peterhansel has taken the provisional scratch with a time of 3 h 09'57", 8'29" ahead of Giniel de Villiers.

The third driver across the line is also one of those who performed best on the dunes: Leonid Novitskiy's time was 12'55" slower than the overall leader's.



12:20 - car 304 - Now it is Holowczyc's turn to get stuck

Now that Nani Roma has been able to continue the special, it is Pole Holowczyc's turn to get stuck on the same dunes. He is at km 182 and has been shown as immobile for 25 minutes already.




12:09 - car 303 - Gordon reaches rock bottom

After doing a somersault earlier on, the American continued the stage at low speed. He has now stopped at km 221 to repair a flat tyre...



11:50 - car 303 - Gordon does a somersault!

202 kilometres into today's special, Robby Gordon was probably trying to claw back the time lost in the dune area 20 kilometres earlier when his car did a somersault. The crew emerged unscathed and are reported to be on their way to the finish.


 car 305 - Roma also loses time on the dunes

Nani Roma is currently losing time in the same dune area as Robby Gordon before, roughly 182 kilometres into the stage. Giniel de Villiers also got stuck in this area for a few minutes before being able to continue. The best driver across this area was Russia's Novitskiy. Stéphane Peterhansel, on the other hand, is driving slightly to the north and seems to have had no problems with the sand so far...


11:19 - car 303 - The Hummer is moving again

Following his 7-minute stop at the start of the dune zone, 182 kilometres into today's special, Robby Gordon is on his way to the finish of special, roughly 90 km away.


11:10 - car 303 - Gordon on the dunes

The American driver stopped at the beginning of the dune area, 182 kilometres into today's special. He has lost almost 7 minutes so far and his GPS tracker still shows him as stopped.


10:54 - car 302 - CP1: Peterhansel second

France's Stéphane Peterhansel has lost a full 7'16" to the USA's Robby Gordon and his Hummer so far, but still came in second at the km 117 checkpoint, ahead of Nani Roma.


10:52 - car 303 - CP1: Gordon surges ahead

The American crossed CP1 with a total time of 1 h 12'28" for the first 117 kilometres. Giniel De Villiers was third, 8'41" back. These two drivers are battling it out for the bottom step of the overall podium, with the South African gaining the upper hand so far. Nani Roma posted the second best time, 7'30" behind the Hummer, while Leonid Novitskiy was fourth, 8'58" back.




09:23 - car 303 - Gordon is on his way

Robby Gordon opened the car field this morning. The American started the 275-kilometre special right on schedule (9:10 am). He was followed by Leonid Novitskiy, Giniel De Villiers and Bernhard ten Brinke. Nani Roma and Stéphane Peterhansel started fifth and seventh.




02:30 Nazca-Pisco along the Pacific coast

With 100 kilometres of link route to cover, but especially 275 kilometres against the clock, the thirteenth day of the Dakar will be of capital importance. In fact, it will be the last opportunity to make a decisive difference the day before the finish. The dunes again have pride of place in this part of the country.


The lead in the bike race is far from certain and Cyril Despres's starting position could again lead to interesting developments. Whilst Stephane Peterhansel boasts a controllable lead in the general standings in the car category, it is not that comfortable. Only the leading places in the quad and truck categories can be deemed stable. However, in all the different categories, the remaining top places will be the subject of some feisty battles over the coming hours.


The competitors still have a big day ahead of them. They will have to deal with a not inconsiderable number of dunes, avoid confusion in the similar but diverging valleys and fight against tiredness setting in after covering several thousand kilometres. It is at this point that each of them will remember exactly what extreme endurance really means.


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