DAKAR RALLY 2023 stage 12 short news review- As it happened 13.01.2023: DAKAR RALLY 2023 Saudi-Arabia Stage 12 from EMPTY QUARTER MARATHON to SHAYBAH Friday, January 13th 2023 185 km of special on the programme for the second part of the marathon stage  Now is the time when we will be able to judge the tactical l

DAKAR RALLY 2023
Saudi-Arabia
Stage 12 from EMPTY QUARTER MARATHON to SHAYBAH
Friday, January 13th 2023

185 km of special on the programme for the second part of the marathon stage

 Now is the time when we will be able to judge the tactical lucidity of the Dakar riders, drivers and crews. Was the level of attack on the previous day sufficiently controlled in order to spare the mechanics tonight?


On the other hand, will excessive caution not be too much of a penalty when faced with opponents who have been able to push to the limits?



It is at the end of a new festival of dunes and therefore at the end of the marathon stage in Shaybah that the answers will be given. Depending on the gaps produced in each category, the hierarchy in place at the end of the day could resemble the final one.






Van Kasteren wins | T5

11:47

 Janus Van Kasteren has won the day’s special way ahead of Mitchel Van Den Brink. Also, he has taken advantage of his rivals’ problems to open up a gap in the general rankings. Two days from the end of the rally, he now boasts a lead of 33’ over Martin Van Den Brink and more than 1 hour and 20 minutes over Martin Macík.





Michał Goczał wins, Baciuška increases his lead | T4

11:26

Michał Goczał has been the quickest SSV today and has won his first stage on this Dakar. The Polish driver has finished 13’’ ahead of Rokas Baciuška, who in has in turn finished a little more than 3’ in front of Eryk Goczał. A little less than 8’ separate the two drivers in the general rankings two days from the end of the rally.





Guthrie gets his revenge | T3

11:21

 Mitch Guthrie has picked up a fourth victory in this edition of the Dakar! The American, who encountered mechanical problems yesterday, has achieved the day’s best time, depriving Ignacio Casale of victory by 29 seconds. Guillaume de Mevius climbs onto the third step of the podium for the day’s special, less than one minute behind the winner’s time.





A long stop for Macík | T5

11:04

On the final straight to the finish, Martin Macík was held up for approximately twenty minutes. The Czech has resumed the stage and should reach the finishing line soon, but this episode could cost him dearly in the general rankings.








Van Kasteren is first to the finishing line | T5

11:00

 Janus Van Kasteren, the fourth truck driver to start, is the first to reach the finishing line on the day’s special. At the previous timing point, the Dutchman boasted the best provisional time with a lead of almost one minute over Martin Macík and six minutes over Martin Van Den Brink. The 12th driver to start, namely Mitchel Van Den Brink, has achieved the fourth best time, more than 18’ behind.





Guthrie closes in… | T3

10:35

Mitch Guthrie has moved into second position after 128 km. The American is only 43’’ behind Ignacio Casale and still has approximately 60 km to cover before we know the outcome of this special in the T3 category.






Baciuška opens up a gap | T4

10:20

Rokas Baciuška has posted the second-best time at the finishing line, 13’’ behind Michal Goczał. Although he misses out on stage victory, the Lithuanian, already leading the general rankings, has slightly increased the gap at the summit by finishing 3 minutes ahead of Eryk Goczał today.





Casale reaches the finish | T3

10:17

Ignacio Casale has already crossed the finishing line of the day’s special. The Chilean, who has often been near the top step of the stage podiums this year, seems well set for victory. However, a watchful eye will have to be kept on Mitch Guthrie. The American, who was the 36th driver to start, achieved the third best time after 87 km a little than one minute behind Casale.






De Baar goes back to the bivouac | T5

09:38

 The winner of stage 10, Pascal De Baar has not started the day’s special. The Renault crew experienced mechanical problems on the link route this morning and are heading to the bivouac.




Van Kasteren strikes the first blow | T5

09:33

 At the first timing point, Janus Van Kasteren is the quickest truck driver ahead of Mitch Van Den Brink, who suffered mechanical problems yesterday, and Martin Macík. Martin Van Brink, the nearest pursuer of Van Kasteren in the general rankings, has conceded almost 4 minutes to his countryman.






Michał takes the lead | T4

09:20

 Michal Gozcał occupies provisional first place after 87 km, with a lead of 7’’ over Rokas Baciuška and 38’’ over Yasir Seaidan, who led at the first time check point. Eryk Gozcał, who is second in the general rankings behind Baciuška, has conceded almost 4’30’’.





Casale is holding steady | T3

09:16

 After 87 km, Ignacio Casale still has the best time, with a lead of 39’’ over Guillaume de Mevius. Ricardo Porem is in third, more than 1’10’’ behind his Yamaha team-mate. Austin Jones is at the foot of the day’s provisional podium ahead of his Can-Am colleagues, Cristina Gutiérrez and Seth Quintero.




Moraes loses second place | T1

09:07

 Lucas Moraes ground to a halt for a short while and lost a sufficient amount of time to allow Sébastien Loeb to take second in the general rankings. The Brazilian is now on the third step of the provisional podium, a little more than 2 minutes behind the French driver.






5 in a row for Loeb | T1

08:51

 Sébastien Loeb has reached the finish of the special with the best time. The BRX driver has obtained his fifth stage victory in a row and his sixth on this edition of the Dakar. He led Brazilian Lucas Moraes by almost 8 minutes after 156 km. All that remains is to see when the Brazilian finishes to find out whether Loeb has climbed into second place in the general rankings.





Medeiros pips Varga at the post | Q

08:49

In the end, Juraj Varga has finally been beaten by Marcelo Medeiros at the finishing line of the day’s special. Medeiros achieved the best time, by more than 1’30’’ ahead of his Slovakian rival to take his third consecutive victory. Giovanni Enrico completes the day’s podium, more than 4 minutes behind.





De Mevius counterattacks | T3

08:43

 Trailing Austin Jones by almost 1 hour and 30 minutes in the general rankings, Guillaume de Mevius is not giving up. The Belgian, who was the 10th driver to start today, has the second-best time after 42 km, only 10’’ behind Ignacio Casale. Seth Quintero occupies provisional third place, trailing by 25’’.






Varga takes the lead | Q

08:40

Juraj Varga, the runner-up to Alexandre Giroud in the rally-raid world cup in the quad category, has just gained the upper hand over Marcelo Medeiros after 156 km by 6’’. Giovanni Enrico has the third best time so far, more than 3 minutes behind, just like Francisco Moreno Flores. The day is proving more complicated for Alexandre Giroud who is down in seventh place, more than 22’ behind the current stage leader.






Loeb hammers home his advantage | T1

08:31

 After 128 km, Sébastien Loeb and his co-pilot Fabian Lurquin still lead the dance, with an advantage of almost 2’30’’ over Mattias Ekström who has moved in front of Nasser Al Attiyah by less than 10’’. Guerlain Chicherit occupies fourth provisional place, more than 4 minutes behind. Lucas Moraes trails the stage leader by almost 7 minutes… Loeb is getting dangerously close to second place in the general rankings.





Kancius at a standstill | Q

08:18

Laisvydas Kancius is definitely unlucky at the moment. The Lithuanian, who occupied second place after 87 km, has stopped after 111 km due to a mechanical problem, which he estimates it will take an hour to fix before resuming racing… Tough times…







Still 4 minutes to gobble up | T1

08:14

 Sébastien Loeb is driving at a hellish pace today. The BRX driver boasts the best time after 128 km. At the previous time check point, he had a lead of 1’40’’ over Nasser Al Attiyah, who is provisional second on the stage, but more importantly an advantage of almost 5’30’’ over Lucas Moraes… If the situation remains the same, Loeb will come to within a little more than 4 minutes of the Brazilian driver in the general rankings.





A 1-minute gap after 11 stages | T5

08:05

 The race is very close in the truck category. Janus Van Kasteren, who lost more than twenty minutes yesterday, still leads the general rankings, but the Dutchman only has a lead of just 1’12’’ over his countryman Martin Van Den Brink. Martin Macík occupies third place, more than three quarters of an hour behind. Van Den Brink, who will be the first truck to start today, knows that he cannot afford to lose any time if he wants to be the quickest in Dammam on Sunday.






Ekström all alone for Audi | T1

08:05

Mattias Ekström is now the only driver behind the wheel of an Audi RS Q e-tron E2 still in the race. The Swede has the firm intention to distinguish himself. After 42 km, he was only one minute behind Sébastien Loeb. At the next time check point, the gap had increased to 2 minutes, but he seems well and truly determined to fight for a place on the day’s podium.





25-minute stop for Lategan

07:59

Henk Lategan has again run into misfortune on the beginning of the special. The South African, who could lay claim to a final podium position several days ago, has been at a standstill for more than twenty minutes.






Baciuška still leads the SSV category | T4

07:52

Though ill on finishing the stage between Haradh and Shaybah, Rokas Baciuška got back on his feet to win the first part of the marathon stage in the Empty Quarter. As a result, the Lithuanian has strengthened his position as general rankings leader, even if Eryk Goczał is just less than five minutes behind him. The two rivals will be the first two SSV drivers to start today.






Medeiros leads the quads | Q

07:41

 Almost all of the quads have already completed 87 km and Marcelo Medeiros is the quickest so far. The Brazilian leads Laisvydas Kancius by more than one minute and Juraj Varga by more than two minutes. It is proving to be a tricky start to the day for Alexandre Giroud who already trails Medeiros by ten minutes and Francisco Moreno Flores, his nearest pursuer in the general rankings, by a little less than 8 minutes.





Porem at the start | T3

07:36

 Following its first success in the T3 category thanks to João Ferreira on stage 8, Yamaha achieved a magnificent 1-2-3 finish for the first part of the marathon stage, with Ricardo Porem winning ahead of Ferreira and Ignacio Casale. The three representatives of the Iwata factory will be the first in their category to start today.




Loeb maintains control | T1

07:36

After 42, Sébastien Loeb has posted the best provisional time, a little less than one minute ahead of Nasser Al Attiyah. The Frenchman already boasts a lead of 3’ over Lucas Moraes. The gap between the two men for second place in the general rankings is melting like snow in the sun.






Price takes command of the Dakar | GP

07:34

Nacho Cornejo has won the day’s special ahead of Daniel Sanders and Toby Price. However, the main news of the day is that Toby Price now leads the general rankings of the Dakar, with two stages before the finish. The official KTM rider was the 3rd rider to start and put on a show of force to finish third on the special, assisted by the bonuses acquired on the way. He possesses a lead of 28’’ over Skyler Howes and 2'40’’ over Kevin Benavides. These 3 riders are within a whisker of each other on the provisional podium. Behind them, the rest of the field led by the Hondas of Pablo Quintanilla and Adrien Van Beveren still trail by a quarter of an hour.





Dumontier is in control in the Rally2 class | GP

07:25

Romain Dumontier in the Rally2 class continues to dominate. After 128 km, he has a lead of 50’’ over Michael Docherty, 1'33’’ over Paolo Lucci and 1'43’’ over Julien Jagu, who occupied third place at the previous time check point. Like Dumontier or Van Beveren, Jagu is a regular on the French sand championships, to which the famous Le Touquet race belongs.





A look at the virtual general rankings after 156 km

07:18

 After 156 km, with bonuses included, Toby Price has taken the lead in the Dakar by 59’’ over Skyler Howes and 2'28’’ over his KTM team-mate Kevin Benavides. Honda riders Pablo Quintanilla and Adrien Van Beveren are further back from the fight for the podium. The provisional top three are within a time bracket of just over 2 minutes. An important detail is that Howes achieved the 5th best time so far on the special. If he remains in this place until the finishing line, he will start tomorrow, like today, behind the 3 openers and it could be difficult for him to pick up bonuses which have allowed Toby Price to make the difference today. Kevin Benavides in 2nd position after 156 km and Price in 3rd place could be counting on these extra seconds tomorrow...





25 minutes gained yesterday | T1

07:17

 Mathieu Serradori and his co-pilot Loïc Minaudier once again set the fastest time in the 2WD category yesterday. Behind the wheel of his Century buggy, Serradori drew on his ability in order to get to the end of the first part of the marathon stage. Still in third place overall, the French crew clawed back nearly 25' from their Century counterparts, Brian Baragwanath/Leonard Cremer, still the leaders in the category. Just over three quarters of an hour separated Serradori/Minaudier from triumph in 2WD






Moraes under pressure? | T1

07:06

 For his first participation on the Dakar, Brazilian Lucas Moraes is still in second position in the general rankings after stage 11. However, thanks to a fifth victory and his fourth consecutive one, Sébastien Loeb is only 9 minutes behind his Brazilian rival. “I’ll keep pushing and see how Loeb will react,” he said yesterday evening. Will he manage to keep the BRX driver at a distance? He still has three days to hold out.





Price looks like the man to beat | GP

07:05

After 128 km, Nacho Cornejo has the best time, 19’’ ahead of Kevin Benavides and 31’’ in front of Toby Price. However, thanks to being the second rider to start, Price has already acquired 59’’ of bonuses. The Australian two times winner of the Dakar is enjoying a good start to the day and remains among the best times, while doubling his advantage with openers’ bonuses. This should allow him to take command of the Dakar at the finish, which he has just reached and where he awaits the times of his rivals.





Sanders doing it for the honour | GP

06:59

 Daniel Sanders, the 2nd rider to start the special, has caught up with Luciano Benavides and is opening the special. Despite the bonuses he will acquire today, his pursuers are likely to achieve better times and his 7th place in the general rankings, more than 20 minutes from the summit of the rally seems to have compromised his hopes of returning to the top before Dammam. With the bonuses included, “Chucky” has the best time after 128 km, 4’’ ahead of Toby Price, who also has bonuses in the bag. However, this is unlikely to allow Sanders to get into the reckoning for outright triumph.






Al Attiyah in control | T1

06:55

 Nasser Al Attiyah finished fifth yesterday, 6’42’’ behind Loeb, but knows that there is no point overdoing it and instead he must secure his first place in the general rankings. He still has a cushion of one hour and a half over the Frenchman, who is third in the race hierarchy, behind Lucas Moraes. “We don’t need to attack for nothing, we have a big enough lead,” he underlined. “We just need to control”. For the moment, everything is ok…





Second place on the podium in his sights | T1

06:45

Although he had to stop to change a wheel, Sébastien Loeb grabbed a fourth consecutive stage victory yesterday, his fifth this year, but is still far behind Nasser Al Attiyah. Nevertheless, he is 9 minutes behind Lucas Moraes, so second place on the final podium is perfectly possible.




Howes under threat | GP

06:30

After 87 km, Toby Price still leads by 39’’ with of bonuses and a lead of 17’’over his team-mate Kevin Benavides. Skyler Howes, the general rankings leader, is in ninth, trailing by 1’16’’. In the current state of affairs, Price and Benavides have virtually dethroned Howes from the top of the race hierarchy.




Dumontier already leads | R2

06:25

At the first time check point, Romain Dumontier has the best provisional time in the Rally2 class ahead of Michael Docherty and Dudu’s countrymen Julien Jagu and Mathieu Doveze. Less than one minute separates the four leaders after 42 km. Paolo Lucci, Dumontier’s main pursuer in the general rankings, completes the top 5 a little more than one minute behind.




Tough times for Klein | GP

06:19

Mason Klein, a rookie in RallyGP, experienced a difficult day yesterday. Finishing 27th almost 20 minutes behind the winner, his pace dropped. Plagued by tiredness, he is now ninth in the general rankings, more than half an hour behind his countryman Skyler Howes. After 42 km of the day’s special, he has already conceded 5’ to Toby Price.





AVB steps up to the plate | GP

06:13

Adrien Van Beveren, the 17th rider to start, has climbed into fifth position at the first time check point on the day’s special. The Frenchman is a little more than 20 seconds behind the day’s quickest rider so far, Toby Price.






Very close in the top 12 | GP

06:04

After 42 km, Toby Price still possesses the best provisional time ahead of Kevin Benavides (6’’ behind) and Nacho Cornejo (trailing by 17’’). Daniel Sanders occupies fifth place, behind the Honda ridden by Pablo Quintanilla and the Hero ridden by Franco Caimi. There are 12 riders within the same minute for the moment.






10 quads at the start | Q

06:00

 It is now the turn of the quads to tackle the 185 km on the day’s special. Marcelo Medeiros, winner of the last two stages, will again be first to start, followed by Alexandre Giroud, who comfortably leads the general rankings with an advantage of more than 1 hour and 20 minutes over Francisco Moreno Flores who will start just after the Frenchman.






Sanders now opens the way | GP

05:51

Caught by Daniel Sanders, Luciano Benavides is no longer opening alone and is currently accompanied by his Australian rival. They have both just completed 87 km and Benavides already trails by 3 minutes.





Benavides already distanced | GP

05:38

 At the first timing point (after 42 km), Luciano Benavides, who opened the way today, as already conceded 2’30’’ to Toby Price, who has posted the best provisional time. Even though he has acquired a minute’s bonus, the Argentinean is still distanced. In virtual terms, Daniel Sanders leads the dance for the moment. Trailing Toby Price by 25’’, “Chucky” has already accumulated 39’’ of bonuses.






The day’s bonuses | GP

05:35

The day’s bonuses reward the three riders who open the way over the first 185 kilometres of the day’s special. As a reminder, the bonuses are as follows: 1.5’’ per km for the first rider; 1’’ per km for the second; 0.5’’ per km for the third. In total, an opener could accumulate approximately 4’30’’ of bonuses today.





The duel continues between Vega and Moore | R2

05:25

Javi Vega achieved the second-best time in the Original by Motul category for unassisted bikers, just seven seconds behind the day’s quickest man Mario Patrao. As for Charan Moore, he finished in sixth place, more than a quarter of an hour behind. As a result, the South African has been dethroned from the top of the general rankings by Vega. Just slightly more than 9 minutes separate the two leaders before the second part of the marathon stage.






Keep an eye on AVB… | GP

05:20

 Adrien Van Beveren opened the way yesterday, but eventually reached the finishing line in 17th position. As a result, he drops a place in the general rankings, but the Frenchman is only one quarter of an hour behind the leader Skyler Howes. Thanks to starting further back, a watchful eye will have to be kept on a potential comeback from AVB. “I give the best every moment, every minute and we will see,” he underlined yesterday.






Dumontier still leads in the Rally2 class | R2

05:10

 Romain Dumontier was again victorious in the Rally2 class yesterday. The Frenchman was the seventh to finish out of all the bikes, among the official riders. Despite a 15-minute penalty incurred after an engine change due to gear problems, “Dudu” still leads the Rally2 rankings with a lead of a little more than 22’ over Paolo Lucci and more than 1 hour and 15 minutes over Michael Docherty, who features among the revelations of the Dakar 2023.






Howes is expecting a super exciting finish | GP

05:05

 With fourth place yesterday a little more than 2 minutes behind the winner, Skyler Howes has regained the lead in the general rankings from Kevin Benavides who slips down to third. Toby Price is now second, only 28’’ behind, so the American will be the fourth rider to start today: “All it’s going to do is to be tight going all the way in to the finish, which is super exciting”.






Sanders is ready to pounce | GP

04:56

 Daniel Sanders took advantage of starting further back yesterday to achieve the second best time. As a result, “Chucky” reduced the gap with the leaders in the general rankings and is now in seventh place. With three stages to go before the end of the rally, anything is still possible for the GasGas rider, who is still having problems with a painful arm. “The stomach pain has gone, but it’s pretty sore, the thorn in my arm. I think I’ll just have to suck it up and get through these next few days”. He will be the second rider to start today in front of Toby Price.




Luciano Benavides opens the way | GP

04:48

Luciano Benavides, winner of his third special on this Dakar yesterday, is the rider on form since the start of the rally. He will be the first to star today, but the Argentinean is not worried. “I think it wasn’t ideal to win today, but if I have, I feel really confident with my navigation, like I did yesterday opening all the stage, so if I have to do that, then of course I’m happy,” he said.




- ASO also photo