Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Dakar Rally: Peterhansel concedes defeat to Sainz with three stages left

Stephane Peterhansel has given up on taking a 14th Dakar Rally victory this year, conceding that Peugeot team-mate Carlos Sainz can't be caught over the final three stages

Peterhansel looked set to add to his remarkable tally of Dakar wins at the end of the first week, sitting a comfortable 27 minutes clear of Sainz heading into the La Paz - Uyuni stage.

However that seventh day of running proved to be a turning point for Peterhansel, his Peugeot buggy sustaining serious suspension damage while avoiding a stranded quad.

After having to wait for team-mate Cyril Despres to provide support and parts, Peterhansel dropped backed to third outright, an hour and 20 minutes behind new leader Sainz.

Peterhansel has since won two stages and moved back to second in the standings. However, with Sainz more than an hour ahead thanks to having his 10-minute penalty rescinded, the Frenchman says he's given up his chase and would need to rely on a mechanical failure to win from here.

"Yeah, sure," he said when asked if Sainz was too far ahead with three stages remaining.

"We have the same car, we are professionals - so to catch Carlos is really not possible. But this is a mechanical sport, so you never know.

"I'll just defend my place because Nasser [Al-Attiyah] is only 20 minutes behind me.

"To try and take one hour in three stages is not possible, especially as the next stages are not dunes.

"Just to save the second place is not so bad, because after the... well not big accident, but the problem... we stopped for one hour and 45 minutes. So second place in this condition is not so bad."

Dakar action resumes today with the 523-kilometre Fiambala/Chilecito - San Juan stage.

Leading positions after stage 11

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Carlos Sainz Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 36h16m27.s
2 Stephane Peterhansel Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 1h00m45.s
3 Nasser Al-Attiyah Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa Toyota 1h24m02.s
4 Bernhard Ten Brinke Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa Toyota 1h27m35.s
5 Giniel de Villiers Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa Toyota 1h40m05.s
6 Jakub Przygonski X-Raid Team Mini/BMW 2h54m18.s
7 Khalid Al-Qassimi PH-Sport Peugeot 3h26m19.s
8 Martin Prokop MP Sports Ford 5h53m08.s
9 Peter van Merksteijn Overdrive Toyota Toyota 6h31m09.s
10 Sebastian Halpern South Racing Toyota 8h41m21.s


Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Dakar Rally leader Sainz has penalty for quad incident overturned
Next article Toyota's Al-Attiyah tops longest test as Sainz edges to Dakar win

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe