Carlos Sainz won the 12th stage of the Dakar Rally by 52 seconds over Nasser al-Attiyah, boosting his lead to more than five minutes against his Volkswagen teammate and main rival on Thursday.
Sainz completed the 476km stage in west central Argentina from San Juan south to San Rafael in 3 hours, 30 minutes, 29 seconds. The Spaniard led Qatar’s al-Attiyah by 5:20 overall.
Their US teammate Mark Miller was third in the stage and third overall, 28:12 behind Sainz, in another podium sweep by VW.
PHOTO: EPA
In motorbikes, Chile’s Francisco Lopez Contardo won the stage on an Aprilia, his third this year.
David Fretigne of France was second on a Yamaha, 40 seconds behind, and Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway was third on his KTM, 1:13 back.
France’s Cyril Despres finished a cautious eighth, more than 17 minutes off the pace, but kept his whopping overall lead and seems certain of victory when the rally ends today in Buenos Aires.
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