Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah virtually wrapped up the Dakar Rally on Thursday when he romped to victory in the 11th stage as defending champion Carlos Sainz saw his hopes ended by a broken suspension on his Volkswagen.
Al-Attiyah, also in a Volkswagen, finished the 523km special stage between Chilecito and San Juan with a 1 minute and 13 seconds advantage over France’s Stephane Peterhansel, in a BMW, and 4 minutes, 52 seconds ahead of South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, in another Volkswagen.
However, Sainz, a former double world rally champion, saw his hopes shattered after spending over an hour repairing a broken front suspension that brought his car to a halt after 410km.
PHOTO: AFP
The Spanish veteran had wanted to push hard from the outset having started the day more than 12 minutes behind the Qatari, a deficit caused by losing 10 minutes on Wednesday’s traumatic stage.
Sainz finished -Thursday’s -action 1 hour and 14 minutes behind al-Attiyah to be 1 hour, 27 minutes behind the Qatari in the overall standings.
“The car worked very well and there were no problems. There was a lot of dust on the stage, but the good thing is that we finished and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” said Al-Attiyah, who now has an overall lead of more than 51 minutes on second-placed de Villiers.
“I don’t know what happened to Carlos. I think he was pushing a lot. I did a very good job and so did my co-pilot and the team. I’m quite happy and I will do my best to reach Buenos Aires,” he said.
Barring a disaster in yesterday’s penultimate stage — from San Juan to Cordoba — al-Attiyah, the runner-up last year after a bitter fall-out with teammate Sainz, will be crowned champion ahead of today’s run to Buenos Aires, a virtual parade stage.
“I pushed as hard as I could and when I was in Nasser’s dust, I didn’t see a hole. I went straight into it and broke the suspension,” Sainz said. “I tried everything I could to go on the attack, because I haven’t come here to finish second. For me it’s first or nothing, so finishing second or third is the same.”
Defending motorcycle champion Cyril Despres, riding a KTM, clinched the moto honors, but overall leader Marc Coma remained comfortably on course for victory in the race.
Despres crossed the line 2min 11sec ahead of Spanish rider Coma, also on a KTM, who has an imposing 15 minute, 59 second lead.
DAKAR DEATH TOLL RISES
AFP, SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA
The driver of a car involved in a collision with a competitor in the Dakar Rally has died, organizers announced on Thursday.
The fatal accident occurred when the driver, who hasn’t been named, collided with a 48-year-old Argentine rally driver who was returning to a bivouac in Chilecito, 30km after the end of the 10th special stage at Fiambala.
A statement from the event’s organizers, ASO, reported: “Immediately they were informed by the competitor the race management sent medical help, a medically equipped vehicle and a helicopter, to the site and alerted the local emergency services. The patient was transported to hospital in Tinogasta where he unfortunately died.”
ASO added that a judicial inquiry had been opened into the accident by the local authorities in the Argentine province of Catamarca.
This latest fatality brings to four the number of Dakar-related deaths on this year’s rally.
Last week two maintenance workers were killed after being electrocuted in separate incidents.
And on the opening stage a 28-year-old female fan was killed when a competitor’s car ploughed into a group of spectators near the town of Rio Cuarto.
The rally, regarded as the most dangerous in the world and which claimed the lives of three people in 2009, finishes in Buenos Aires tomorrow.
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