Another stage win for the AXION X-raid Team
– Nasser Al-Attiyah wins stage 11
– Three MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles in the top six of the overall standings
The Dakar enters its home straight. 11 of the 13 stages of the 2016 Dakar have been contested and Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) in second position still lie in wait for their chance. Following yesterday’s rollover, the mechanics used the night to get their MINI ALL4 Racing back in top form. And the pairing thanked them for their effort by securing their second stage win in this Dakar. Meanwhile, Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) / Michel Périn (FRA) who also had their problems, yesterday, made it to the front runners, too, and finished third, today.
Nani Roma and Alex Haro (both ESP) finished today’s special stage in sixth position. They held seventh for quite a while but in the closing stages they passed Peugeot’s Frenchman Cyril Despres and gained enough time on him to also pass him in the overall standings. Roma and Haro now are sixth in the overall standings, some five minutes behind their fifth-placed adversaries. Orlando Terranova and Ronnie Graue (both ARG) finished 15th today.
Tomorrow, the penultimate stage of the 2016 Dakar will take the field from San Juan to Villa Carlos Paz, the Argentinean city that also was the destination of stage one. After the sandy terrain of the previous stages the Dakar now returns to the mountains and narrow roads offering nearly no opportunity to overtake. The competitors will have to cover a total of 931 kilometres, with the special stage mileage adding up to 481 kilometres.
Result stage eleven (for latest version click here)
1st N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 49m 16s
2nd S. Loeb (FRA) / D. Elena (MCO) Peugeot – 4h 55m 08s
3rd Hirvonen (FIN) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 56m 17s
4th S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) Peugeot – 4h 57m 21s
5th Y. Al-Rajhi (SAU) / T. Gottschalk (GER) Toyota – 5h 01m 13s
6th J. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) MINI ALL4 Racing – 5h 01m 30s
…
15th N. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI ALL4 Racing – 5h 22m 08s
Overall standings with eleven stages contested (for latest version click here)
1st S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) Peugeot – 37h 43m 20s
2nd N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 38h 34m 15s
3rd G. De Villiers (ZAF) / D. von Zitzewitz (GER) Toyota – 38h 59m 44s
4th M. Hirvonen (FIN) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 39h 05m 07s
5th L. Poulter (ZAF) / R. Howie (ZAF) Toyota – 39h 28m 56s
6th J. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) MINI ALL4 Racing – 39h 36m 54s
…
14th O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI ALL4 Racing – 43h 01m 17s
