2018 Dakar Rally Statistics, Stage 12 (January 18, 2018)

The 2018 Dakar Rally continued in Argentina on Thursday, January 18, with the 12th stage (11th stage running). Competitors made the 791-kilometer journey from Fiambala/Chilecito to San Juan.

The biggest story for the bikes and quads was that their stage was canceled. The scheduled 722-kilometer journey was canceled “following the study of the safety conditions for bikes and quads,” according to race organizers.

Eduard Nikolaev (Russia) reclaimed the trucks lead by a single second over Federico Villagra (Argentina) following Thursday’s stage, in which he claimed third to Villagra’s fourth. Ton Van Genugten (Netherlands) won the stage – his third, all since last Friday’s rest day – by just over four minutes in his Iveco. Villagra had taken command overall following Wednesday’s event, by just 67 seconds.

Carlos Sainz (Spain), the car category leader, lost ground with problems and was ninth in Thursday’s stage, more than 18 minutes behind stage winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar), earning his category-high third triumph. However, Sainz remains ahead overall, his one-hour lead from Wednesday dropping to a 44-minute plus advantage over Stephane Peterhansel (France), also a third-time stage winner this year. Peterhansel was second in Thursday’s stage.

Reinaldo Varela (Brazil) padded his lead in the SxS category with a fifth stage victory, the most of any competitor in this year’s event. Varela took his Can-Am to victory by more than 11 minutes over Claude Fournier (France), and heads into Friday’s stage with a lead of more than an hour over Patrice Garrouste (France). Only six competitors in the SxS category finished the race, which took Varela more than nine hours to cover. Leo Larrauri (Argentina), a rookie, finished, but it took him more than 20 hours; he was also given a four-hour penalty.

Here are the winners/leaders and some of the statistics following the 12th stage of the 40th Dakar Rally.

Statistics – After Stage 12 (791 kilometers from Fiambala/Chilecito to San Juan, Argentina)

Car:

- Left: 44 vehicles

- Finished: 35 vehicles

- Winner: Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar), Toyota Hilux

- Runner-Up: Stephane Peterhansel (France), Peugeot 3008 DKR

- Winner’s Time: 5 hours, 49 minutes, 57 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 2 minutes, 3 seconds

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

- Stage Wins (Countries): France (5), Qatar (3), Spain (2), Netherlands (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): Peugeot (7), Toyota (4)

- Overall Leader: Carlos Sainz (by 44 minutes, 41 seconds over Stephane Peterhansel)

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

SxS:

- Left: 7 vehicles

- Finished: 6 vehicles

- Winner: Reinaldo Varela (Brazil), Can-Am

- Runner-Up: Claude Fournier (France), Polaris RZR 1000 XP

- Winner’s Time: 9 hours, 27 minutes, 12 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 11 minutes, 42 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Reinaldo Varela (5), Patrice Garrouste (4), Anibal Aliaga (1), Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Brazil (5), France (4), Peru (2)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturers): Can-Am (6), Polaris (5)

- Overall Leader: Reinaldo Varela (by 1 hour, 3 minutes, 27 seconds over Patrice Garrouste)

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

Truck:

- Left: 19 vehicles

- Finished: 18 vehicles

- Winner: Ton Van Genugten (Netherlands), Iveco Powerstar

- Runner-Up: Martin Kolomy (Czech Republic), Tatra Phoenix

- Winner’s Time: 7 hours, 2 minutes, 36 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 4 minutes, 11 seconds

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

- Stage Wins (Countries): Russia (5), Netherlands (3), Argentina (2), Belarus (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturers): Iveco (5), Kamaz (4), Tatra (1), Maz (1)

- Overall Leader: Eduard Nikolaev (new; by 1 second over Federico Villagra)

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

Sources:

-       Dakar Rally official website – www.dakar.com

-       Twitter: @dakarrally