2018 Dakar Rally Statistics, Stage 11 (January 17, 2018)

The 2018 Dakar Rally continued Wednesday, January 17, with the 11th stage (10th stage running). Competitors in the car, SxS and truck categories contested a 747-kilometer run, while those in the bike and quad categories made a shorter, 485-kilometer journey from Belen to Fiambala, Argentina.

The only change in the overall standings occurred in the truck category, as Federico Villagra (Argentina) earned his sixth runner-up effort to wrest the lead from Eduard Nikolaev (Russia) by a mere 67 seconds. Villagra had been cutting into the lead by about 3-5 minutes each stage, but Nikolaev experienced trouble that resulted in finishing seventh, his worst finish in 10 contested stages this event. He was 44 minutes behind Villagra, allowing the Argentinian an opportunity to take a slight lead heading into Thursday’s round, scheduled to end in San Juan.

Meanwhile, it was status quo in the other categories, with the other four overall leaders – Carlos Sainz (Spain, cars), Matthias Walkner (Austria, bikes), Reinaldo Varela (Brazil, SxS) and Ignacio Casale (Chile, quads) – all holding on to decisive leads as the rally nears its completion. Varela and Casale were each second in the 11th stage, both to winners who are also the nearest competitors in their respective categories. Rookie Nicolas Cavigliasso (Argentina) won his second stage in the quads, while Patrice Garrouste (France) – who led the overall SxS standings after the fourth stage – recorded a category-best fourth victory in his category. Cavigliasso had been listed as the winner of the 10th stage, but then was moved back to second place behind Casale, deemed the winner by eight seconds. Casale has led the entire event in the quad category.

Toby Price (Australia) and Bernhard Ten Brinke (Netherlands) each won their first stages in the bike and car categories respectively, and are third and fourth respectively in the overall categories. Matthias Walker (Austria) still leads the bike category over Kevin Benavides, who moved back into second after a solid run Wednesday, while Carlos Sainz maintained an hour-plus advantage over 14-time Dakar champion Stephane Peterhansel. The pair were third and fourth in the 11th stage, separated by only 10 seconds. The car category continued to see high attrition, as only 11 of the 51 competitors dropped out after leaving the start. A total of 88 competitors left on the first day of competition on Saturday, January 6.

Here are the winners/leaders and some of the statistics following the 11th stage of the 40th Dakar Rally.

Statistics – After Stage 11

Bike:

- Left: 89 vehicles

- Finished: 86 vehicles

- Winner: Toby Price (Australia), KTM 450 Rally Replica

- Runner-Up: Kevin Benavides (Argentina), Honda CRF 450 Rally

- Winner’s Time: 4 hours, 1 minute, 33 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 1 minute, 38 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Joan Barreda Bort (3), Sam Sunderland (2), Antoine Meo (2), Adrien Van Beveren (1), Matthias Walkner (1), Toby Price (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Spain (3), France (3), United Kingdom (2), Austria (1), Australia (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): KTM (6), Honda (3), Yamaha (1)

- Overall Leader: Matthias Walkner (by 32 minutes over Kevin Benavides)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 5 – Sam Sunderland, Joan Barreda Bort, Adrien van Beveren, Kevin Benavides, Matthias Walkner

Quad:

- Left: 33 vehicles

- Finished: 32 vehicles

- Winner: Nicolas Cavigliasso (Argentina), Yamaha YFZ 450

- Runner-Up: Ignacio Casale (Chile), Yamaha Raptor 700

- Winner’s Time: 5 hours, 20 minutes, 45 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 15 minutes, 14 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Ignacio Casale (4), Nicolas Cavigliasso (2), Sergei Kariakin (1), Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (1), Axel Dutrie (1), Simon Vitse (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Argentina (4), Chile (3), France (2), Russia (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): Yamaha (10)

- Overall Leader: Ignacio Casale (by 1 hour, 34 minutes, 13 seconds over Nicolas Cavigliasso)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 1 – Ignacio Casale

Car:

- Left: 51 vehicles

- Finished: 40 vehicles

- Winner: Bernhard Ten Brinke (Netherlands), Toyota Hilux

- Runner-Up: Cyril Despres (France), Peugeot 3008 DKR

- Winner’s Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes, 54 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 4 minutes, 35 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Stephane Peterhansel (3), Nasser Al-Attiyah (2), Carlos Sainz (2), Cyril Despres (1), Sebastien Loeb (1), Bernhard Ten Brinke (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): France (5), Qatar (2), Spain (2), Netherlands (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): Peugeot (7), Toyota (3)

- Overall Leader: Carlos Sainz (by 1 hour, 45 seconds over Stephane Peterhansel)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 4 – Nasser Al-Attiyah, Cyril Despres, Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz

SxS:

- Left: 9 vehicles

- Finished: 7 vehicles

- Winner: Patrice Garrouste (France), Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo

- Runner-Up: Reinaldo Varela (Brazil), Can-Am

- Winner’s Time: 6 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 3 minutes, 39 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Reinaldo Varela (4), Patrice Garrouste (4), Anibal Aliaga (1), Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Brazil (4), France (4), Peru (2)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturers): Polaris (5), Can-Am (5)

- Overall Leader: Reinaldo Varela (44 minutes, 33 seconds over Patrice Garrouste)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 4 – Anibal Aliaga, Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos, Patrice Garrouste, Reinaldo Varela

Truck:

- Left: 22 vehicles

- Finished: 18 vehicles

- Winner: Siarhei Viazovich (Belarus), Maz 5309RR

- Runner-Up: Federico Villagra (Argentina), Iveco Powerstar

- Winner’s Time: 5 hours, 14 minutes, 10 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 1 minute, 24 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Eduard Nikolaev (3), Federico Villagra (2), Ton Van Genugten (2), Ales Loprais (1), Dmitry Sotnikov (1), Siarhei Viazovich (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Russia (5), Argentina (2), Netherlands (2), Belarus (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturers): Kamaz (4), Iveco (4), Tatra (1), Maz (1)

- Overall Leader: Federico Villagra (new; by 1 minute, 7 seconds over Eduard Nikolaev)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 3 – Ales Loprais, Eduard Nikolaev, Federico Villagra

Sources:

-      - Dakar Rally official website – www.dakar.com