Car news from stage 10

stage 10  DaKAR 2012 - Argentina/Chile - January 11th, 2012



14:53 - car 301 - De Villiers third today...

South African Giniel de Villiers has finished third at the end of the day's special, 7'44” behind the best time established by Spaniard Nani Roma.


Only six cars have currently reached the finishing line. Bernhard Ten Brinke (Mitsubishi) came in fifth behind Robby Gordon, Ricardo Leal Dos Santos is sixth, 31'56” behind the day's winner and Leonid Novitskiy is in seventh place, on exactly the same time as the Portuguese driver!



14:15 - car 304 - Holowczyc stops again!

Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc has been at a standstill once again for 35 minutes on the special, after 232 kilometres this time. Evidently the repairs carried out earlier by the crew on the Mini's power steering have not held out…



13:56 - car 305 - Roma wins!

The Spaniard has beaten his team-mate Stephane Peterhansel by 21 seconds. Robby Gordon, at a standstill for a long time on the special stage, has still not reached the finishing line.



13:40 - car 303 - Gordon back on track

The American was at a standstill on the special for a little more than 11 minutes, but has just got back to grips with the last 60 kilometres.


13:28 - car Gordon stops after 316 km!

Are the Hummer's cursed? Robby Gordon stopped on the special stage 9 minutes ago, 60 kilometres from the finishing line, for a currently undetermined reason...


13:26 The Dakar 2012 on the airwaves

A quick reminder for Dakar fans in France: like on every day of the Dakar 2012 a broadcast from the bivouac will be on the news station France Info. For each stage, the special envoys take stock of the day with one or more special guests, giving an exclusive insight into the race.


13:23 - car 305 - Roma and Peterhansel lead Gordon at CP3!

Nani Roma has consistently led since the start of the special, ahead of Stephane Peterhansel and the situation is the same at CP3 after 297 kilometres of the timed section. The two men are currently dominating the Hummer of Robby Gordon. Between Roma and Peterhansel, there is a gap of 51” and the American trails the Spaniard by 4'43”.


13:02 - car 312 - Novitskiy gets lost

The Russian driver Leonid Novitskiy went too far at the 231-km point and has lost time before returning to the right tracks. He is currently just ahead of Portugal's Carlos Sousa with whom he is in a battle for sixth place in the general standings and who was less than 5' behind at the previous CP.


12:23 - car The best of the rest at CP2

Behind the leading trio which has not changed at CP2, Portugal's Ricardo Leal Dos Santos has moved into fourth place, 3'03” behind the leader. Giniel de Villiers is fifth 9” behind the Portuguese driver, sixth is Leonid Novitskiy 5'09” behind the leader, Bernhart Ten Brinke is in seventh, 6'44” behind and leads eighth-paced Lucio Ezequiel Alvares (Toyota), 8'25” behind. Vos Dunkan is in ninth position, 9'27” behind and Carlos Sousa is in tenth pace, 15 seconds behind the South African.


11:55 - car Gordon fights back at CP2

A pitched battle is underway at the top of the standings in the car category. Robby Gordon has fought back at CP2 and is opening the road again, but only occupies third place because Stephane Peterhansel has achieved the second best provisional time behind his team-mate Nani Roma. At present, with a total time of 1:51'58”, the Spaniard is first, 1'07” ahead of the Frenchman and 2'24” in front of the American.


11:41 - car 302 - Peterhansel first at CP1

Stephane Peterhansel has reached CP1 in first place, meaning that he has overtaken Robby Gordon who was opening the road this morning...



10:58 - car 304 - Holowczyc still at a standstill

The Polish driver has not moved from the 48-km point since 10.21 AM local time and has been at a standstill for 30 minutes. The crew of Mini No. 304 appears to be attempting to solve a problem with the steering line.




10:43 - car 304 - Holowczyc stops

Poland's Holowczyc has been stopped for several minutes after 48 kilometres of the special. Ricardo Leal Dos Santos stopped next to him shortly afterwards, most likely to try and help him solve a technical problem.



09:59 - car 303 - Gordon leads the charge

Robby Gordon's Hummer arrived at 9.44 AM local time at the start of the day's special. The American will be followed onto the tracks by the four Minis of Peterhansel, Roma, Holowczyc and Leal Dos Santos. Then it will be the turn of Giniel De Villiers (Toyota), Carlos Sousa (Great Wall) and Vos Duncan (Toyota).



08:44 - car The cars on the link stage

Robby Gordon, the only Hummer driver still in the race after the withdrawal of Nasser Al-Attiyah yesterday, has set off along the link route to Salar Grande where the start of the special stage will take place, near the salt mine in Punta de Lobos. Along with the American, in total 105 car crews have been authorised to take starter's orders this morning.



04:30 Iquique-Arica: five days from Lima...

With a total of 317 kilometres of link stage and a 377-km timed section, the tenth stage between Iquique and Arica, the last in Chile, once again promises to be exciting on the sporting front: there is hardly anything between Marc Coma and Cyril Despres with neither a clear favourite.


Similarly, the standings in the car category are just as tight and it is impossible to make a confident prediction. At the very most, it can only be assumed that the name of Patronelli will appear at the top of the quad standings and it can only be observed that Gerard De Rooy boasts an increasing amount of assurance out in front in the truck category.


The riders and crews will have to concentrate throughout this day that will take them along the ring of fire. At the start of the special, they will be blown over by a spectacular view, mixing sand and waves, lasting for several kilometres. Sand will indeed become a theme of the day, since the dunes stretch out over one hundred kilometres and will be crested like waves by the most proficient experts.


However, the tricky zone of fesh-fesh to be tackled at the end of the special will bring everyone back to the tough reality of the rally-raid discipline.




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