Al-Attiyah closing in on Dakar win

Autosport

Nasser Al-Attiyah stands on the brink of his second Dakar Rally victory after a calm drive through the penultimate stage on Friday, where his X-raid Mini team-mate Orlando Terranova was quickest.

Fourth-fastest on the 185-mile run from Termas de Rio Hondo to Rosario was sufficient for Al-Attiyah, and with second-placed Giniel de Villiers also taking it easy, the WRC2 champion’s outright lead grew to 35 minutes.

X-raid’s tally is now up to four Minis in the top five, as Vladimir Vasilyev’s pace on stage 12 took him past Christian Lavieille’s Toyota into fifth overall, behind team-mates Krzysztof Holowczyc and Erik van Loon.

Vasilyev diced with Terranova for the stage win before falling just 30 seconds short.

Terranova has now taken four stage victories on this year’s event, but a top-15 overall finish is the best he can hope for following his opening-week accident.

Barring a major upset on Saturday’s concluding 108-mile dash to the finish in Buenos Aires, Peugeot will have to settle for 11th on its return to the Dakar.

Stephane Peterhansel reduced the gap to 10th-placed Ronan Chabot’s SMG Buggy on Friday, but is still 37 minutes adrift.

LEADING STAGE 12 TIMES:

PosDriverTeamCarGap
1Orlando TerranovaMonster Energy Rally Raid TeamMini/BMW3h04m06.s
2Vladimir VasilyevVasilyev Racing TeamMini/BMW30.s
3Emiliano SpataroRenault1m29.s
4Nasser Al-AttiyahQatar Rally TeamMini/BMW1m37.s
5Bernhard Ten BrinkeOverdrive ToyotaToyota1m50.s
6Carlos SousaMitsubishi PetrobrasMitsubishi1m52.s
7Stephane PeterhanselTeam Peugeot TotalPeugeot4m04.s
8Krzysztof HolowczycMonster Energy Rally Raid TeamMini/BMW4m39.s
9Robby GordonSpeed Energy RacingHST/Chevrolet5m20.s
10Aidyn RakhimbayevMini/BMW6m15.s

LEADING OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER STAGE 12:

PosDriverTeamCarGap
1Nasser Al-AttiyahQatar Rally TeamMini/BMW
2Giniel de VilliersToyota Imperial Team South AfricaToyota35m39.s
3Krzysztof HolowczycMonster Energy Rally Raid TeamMini/BMW1h31m51.s
4Erik van LoonXdakarMini/BMW3h01m34.s
5Vladimir VasilyevVasilyev Racing TeamMini/BMW3h12m19.s
6Christian LavieilleOverdrive ToyotaToyota3h15m16.s
7Bernhard Ten BrinkeOverdrive ToyotaToyota3h41m53.s
8Carlos SousaMitsubishi PetrobrasMitsubishi3h44m35.s
9Aidyn RakhimbayevMini/BMW4h07m47.s
10Ronan ChabotToys Motors – SMGSMG/GM4h41m37.s

Al-Attiyah closing in on Dakar win

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