CARS News from Dakar stage 7 updated! 11.01.2013: Dakar Rally 2013 Stage 7 January 11th, 2013 1st start (GMT-3) : 10:10 AM

Dakar Rally 2013  Stage 7  January 11th, 2013
1st start (GMT-3) : 10:10 AM

16:29 - car
Peter and Nasser still close in the general

With a gap of only 3'14", the two car category leaders are maintaining the suspense after 7 stages of the rally and more than 3,500 kilometres.


A certain way behind them, 44'03" to be precise, but also in a battle, this time for third place, Giniel de Villiers and his Toyota are still holding off Russian Leonid Novitskiy (48'54" behind Peterhansel).


Guerlain Chicherit, currently fifth, is 1:17'05" behind the race leader.



15:52 - car
More finishers in the car category...

The competitors are arriving at the finish after 218 kilometres of the special stage.


Behind Peterhansel, Chicherit, Gordon and Terranova, Giniel de Villiers has grabbed fifth place, 1'32" behind the stage winner, ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Leonid Novitskiy, respectively 1'56" and 4'07" behind Peter.



15:49 - car
309 - Chicherit finishes second for a French one-two

Guerlain Chicherit's fast pace was not enough to make the difference on the last part of the special, more twisty than the rest of the route, which is what perhaps allowed Stéphane Peterhansel to win the special stage. Chicherit came in 12" behind the general standings leader.



15:30 - car
Waiting for Chicherit at the finish

The battle has turned into a duel between Stéphane Peterhansel, currently first, 1'08'' in front of Robby Gordon, because Nasser Al-Attiyah had to lower his pace at the end of the special, dropping into fourth place, 1'56" behind Peter.

Current third place is occupied by Argentinean Orlando Terranova, 1'11" Peterhansel. However, only these four cars have arrived, so the situation is likely to change.



15:27 - car
Chicherit raises the pace

Guerlain Chicherit has raised the pace nearing the finish of the special stage. He currently leads the car stage after 182 km, in front of Stéphane Petehansel and Robby Gordon. Giniel de Villiers climbs into fourth place whilst Nasser Al-Attiyah drops down into fifth.



14:57 - car
309 - Chicherit still in the reckoning after 142 km

The Frenchman no longer leads, but is still in reach of the front of the race, losing only 23 seconds to Nasser Al-Attiyah after 142 km.


Behind him, Peterhansel and Gordon still lead Giniel de Villiers, 1'35" behind, Orlando Terranova, 1'51" behind, Leonid Novitskiy, 2'45" behind and Ronan Chabot, 3'10" behind the stage leader.



14:53 - car
Very close after 142 km

The first three cars to start are involved in a titanic struggle: Nasser Al-Attiyah still leads the special stage with a total time of 56'45". Stéphane Peterhansel is in second position and Robby Gordon in third, respectively 38" and 43" behind the Qatari.




14:30 - car
309 - Chicherit into the lead after 74 km

At the first check point, French driver Guerlain Chicherit has put his SMG buggy 23 seconds ahead of the previous leaders who are nearing the second time check point on the special stage. They are still separated by a small gap: just 34 seconds.



14:25 - car
Behind the virtual podium after 74 km

As consistent as ever, Giniel de Villiers is fourth, 1'02"behind the current leader. The BMW X3 driven by Orlando Terranova is fifth and the Mini of Leonid Novitsliy is sixth, respectively 1'08" and 1'28" behind the Qatari.

It should be noted that the speeds of the 4x4 seem significantly slower than those of the Qatar Red Bull Buggy and the Hummer on these very quick portions.



14:21 - car
The situation after 74 km

The battle between the race leaders is close because the front three are within thirty seconds of each other. Naser Al-Attiyah leads Robby Gordon's Hummer by a small 16 seconds and the Mini of Stéphane Peterhansel by 35”.

Quicker than the bikes on this section, the top speeds are reaching 180 kmph.



13:43 - car
300 - Al-Attiyah on the charge

This time, it is certain: the Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has launched into this high speed special at 1.31 PM local time. The first time-check will arrive in around half an hour.

13:21 - car
Car special start delayed

Contrary to the previous announcement, Nasser Al-Attiyah has not yet started the special and will set off at 13'21”, since the start of the stage has been delayed by 30 minutes.




13:09 - car
Start of the car special

At 12.51 PM local time, Nasser Al-Attiyah started the special stage ahead of Stéphane Peterhansel and Robby Gordon.



10:02
Cars and trucks on the link stage

At 7.11 AM local time, the first car started out along the link stage to the start of the day's special stage. Nasser Al-Attiyah leads the procession of the 112 cars authorised to start this morning. A little later, the 67 trucks will head out towards the Andean summits, led by Gerard De Rooy.




02:00
Calama-Salta: hitting the heights

There will be two separate bivouacs in Salta for the car/truck and bike/quad categories. However, all the categories will tackle the same 218 kilometre special stage. The climb up the Andes Mountain range will take place early in the morning as the link stage takes a convoy of the riders and crews up to a record altitude of 4,975 m, reached at the highest pass in the whole of Argentina.


On the special stage, the altimeter will be reading between 3,400 m and 4,462 m. Another important figure is the one indicated by the thermometer: in this season and at the highest altitude there will be an average temperature of 15 degrees. The biggest difficulty will reside in how to manage effort as well as tiredness, whose effects are accentuated day after day.


The suspense is still total two days away from the rest day, because the car, bike and truck general standings are still only made up of small gaps and mechanical problems, driving errors and bad luck still could throw a spanner in the works for the leaders between Chile and Argentina.




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