Argentinian Orlando Terranova ruled the Dakar roost yesterday as he finished the 11th stage of this year’s rally raid in first position ahead of the chasing pack of X-Raid Mini team mates and the lone Imperial Toyota Hilux of South African Giniel De Villiers, who did well to finish with the third fastest time of the day.
It seems team orders are in full effect for the Mini squad, which means that defending and 11-time champion Stephane Peterhansel won’t be in contention for a 12th and third consecutive Dakar title – leaving overall leader Nani Roma in a prime position to wrap up his first Dakar title since his win in the Bike category in 2004.
But that shouldn’t detract from Terranova’s efforts during the 600 km special, which tested the competitors through the Atacama desert. With the top three positions overall fairly secured by his team mates, the Argentinian finished 11 minutes ahead of Roma and more than 12 minutes before De Villiers – relegating the South African to fifth overall.
Unfortunately for Peterhansel, who yesterday was very much within striking distance of his team mate (just two minutes in arrears), all he can really do is hang back and make sure his X-Raid Mini crosses the line in Valparaiso. The same goes for Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah – who lies in third overall. The Mini team are trying to secure a podium whitewash.
“Yesterday, the boss asked us to take no risk at all to keep the three Minis on the final podium. So I reduced the speed and we started this morning not with the same spirit. It was a safer spirit for the car. For sure, in these conditions first of all we don’t take any pleasure in driving and it’s a big frustration,” Peterhansel said.
The only real threat to the Mini dominance is De Villiers, who is just 20 minutes adrift of Al-Attiyah’s Mini. The South African might have reduced the damage further if it had not been for a trio of punctures.
“We tried to have a nice day and we caught up with the Minis, two of them – I don’t know who it was – in the rocky part and then just as I got close I got a puncture. Then we caught up again and we hit the sand they just pulled away. It was impossible to stay with them in the sand. Over 20 km they put about two minutes on me. I caught them again in the rocky section. I think they were obviously going slowly in the rocks, but then I had another puncture and 20 km from the end I had a third puncture,” De Villiers said.
Lucio Alvarez in the Ford Racing Ranger also did well to finish 8th fastest yesterday – the Argentinian just 35 minutes 38 seconds off the pace of the Minis, proving how competitive the SA-built Fords really are. Thomas Rundle had a day to forget, finishing more than 5 hours after the day’s stage winner.
“The car worked well all day. The only occasion in which we lost time was through a puncture near the finish, which, in such a long and hard stage, is fantastic. Physically it was hard too. In the bumps my back suffered but we train all year for this. It was such a long stage that it was hard to maintain concentration,” Alvarez admitted.
With just two stages left, it will take a herculean effort by De Villiers to get back onto the podium because the X-Raid team are a well-oiled competition machine that right now have their eyes on the four top positions. But this is the Dakar, and anything can happen over the next 507 km worth of special stages.
OVERALL STANDINGS
CAR RANKINGS
1. Roma #304 (Mini All4) = 45 hours 1 minute 54 seconds
2. Peterhansel #300 (Mini All4) + 5 minutes 32 seconds
3. Al-Attiyah #301 (Mini All4) + 56 minutes 1 second
4. Terranova #307 (Mini All4) + 1 hour 3 minutes 39 seconds
5. De Villiers #302 (Toyota Hilux) + 1 hour 15 minutes 57 seconds
24. Alvarez #308 (Ford Ranger) + 15 hours 35 minutes
26. Rundle #404 (Toyota Hilux) + 16 hours 37 minutes 24 seconds
34. Poulter #323 (Toyota Hilux) + 25 hours 9 minutes 19 seconds
BIKE RANKINGS
1. Coma #2 (KTM) = 48 hours 39 minutes 41 seconds
2. Barreda #3 (Honda) + 37 minutes 36 seconds
3. Viladoms #4 (KTM) + 1 hour 52 minutes 56 seconds
4. Pain #6 (Yamaha) + 2 hours 6 minutes 40 seconds
5. Rodrigues #7 (Honda) + 2 hours 15 minutes 35 seconds
12. Van Niekerk #30 (KTM) + 4 hours 38 minutes 20 seconds
29. Cummings #59 (KTM) + 10 hours 28 minutes 2 seconds
QUAD RANKINGS
1. Casale #251 (Yamaha) = 61 hours 11 minutes 19 seconds
2. Sonik #252 (Yamaha) + 1 hour 4 minutes 32 seconds
3. Husseini #255 (Honda) + 5 hours 34 minutes 25 seconds
4. Abu-Issa #263 (Honda) + 9 hours 17 minutes 23 seconds
5. Gallegos #268 (Honda) + 9 hours 54 minutes 18 seconds
TRUCK RANKINGS
1. Karginov #506 (Kamaz) = 48 hours 25 minutes 17 seconds
2. De Rooy #501 (Iveco) + 7 minutes 56 seconds
3. Nikolaev #500 (Kamaz) + 1 hour 35 minutes 51 seconds
4. Loprais #504 (Tatra) + 2 hours 17 minutes 56 seconds
5. Sotnikov #549 (Kamaz) + 3 hours 10 minutes 19 seconds
