San Juan, Argentina - Nasser Al-Attiyah, winner in 2015, took Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally on Thursday, run in blistering heat that made the going extra tough for the motorcycle competitors.
Mini driver Al-Attiyah picked up his second stage victory of the 2016 Dakar, completing the drive from La Rioja to San Juan almost six minutes clear of Sebastien Loeb.
Nine-times world rally champion and Dakar debutant Loeb crossed the line in unorthodox fashion, his Peugeot being towed by teammate Cyril Despres after it had packed up just a few kilometres from the finish.
Mikko Hirvonen was third while Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel kept his bid for a 12th title on track, finishing fourth in his Peugeot, 8m05s off the pace.
The rally's all-time most successful competitor maintained his lead at the top of the overall standings, 51m55s ahead of Al-Attiyah with South African Giniel De Villiers 1hr 17m24s off the pace in third in the leading Toyota Gazoo Racing SA V8 Hilux.
"Even so, it wasn't an easy day at the office for us," said De Villiers from the searing hot bivouac at San Juan. "We had two punctures on the stage, and changing them cost us more than five minutes."
He posted a time a little more than 12 minutes behind stage winner Al-Attiyah - but more importantly, he did enough to remain ahead of Mikko Hirvonen in the second works Mini, who remained fourth overall, although he gained almost five minutes on Stage 11, placing De Villiers under pressure for the final push to the end.
Team-mate Leeroy Poulter again had a clean run on the stage, bringing the Toyota Hilux to the bivouac without any damage. He lost time on Stage 11, however, when he missed a tight turn in the dust of a slower competitor, going down the wrong track for about 3.5km before turning around and finding the right route.
As a result, he finished a little more than 20 minutes behind the stage winner, leaving him fifth overall.
Yazeed al Rajhi in the third official Toyota entry had a torrid day on Stage 10, but came back strong on Thursday. He started the day 12th but, despite driving with more caution than usual, still posted the fifth fastest time on Stage 11 and moved up to 11th overall.
Mark Corbett in his South African-built Century Racing CR5 prototype buggie finished 17th, 42m55s behind the leader, retaining his 18th place overall. Team-mate Colin Matthews fared less well, however, straggling in 54th - almost five hours behind Al-Attiyah - and losing three places to 41st overall.
Sean Reitz in the Red-Lined Nissan Navara put in a solid run to 37th for the day, gaining three places to 40th overall.
‘IT’S NEVER OVER’
Despite his commanding position with only two stages remaining Peterhansel was keeping his feet firmly on Argentinian soil.
“It's never done: if you have ten minutes, two minutes or one hour and you have a big technical problem then you're stopped and it's finished for the overall victory,” said the 50-year-old who opened his Dakar account on two wheels in 1988.
He added: “It's never over. I've had some good experiences like that, but also some bad experiences”.
MOTORCYCLES
The bikes stage was stopped because of the heat at the 243km mark with Antoine Meo of France declared the winner.
Australian Toby Price came in second on his KTM, retaining a 35m23s advantage in the overall standings from Slovakia's Stefan Svitko.
“On the last probably 50-80km it was starting to heat up really bad again,” he said afterwards. “I can't smell victory yet, not yet. I won't smell victory until I cross the finishing line on the last day.”
The only surviving South African motorcycle entry, Kobus Potgieter, came in 78th, running on pure determination after almost 18 hours on the road in temperatures above 40 degrees.
He picked up three hours worth of penalties and lost five places overall, slipping down to 81st out of 85 that were still running, out of 153 starters.
Team Rhide leader Brian Baragwanath went on the charge again, splitting the Patronelli brothers to finish second for the day and move up to third overall. He was still 1hr 41m behind the local heroes, however, with only two stages to go.
Team-mate Ted Barbier on the second Yamaha 700 Raptor achieved a personal best stage result of 14th, leapfrogging six place to 22nd overall.
AFP