Dakar Stage 11 X-Raid : Peterhansel takes overall lead into final day of the Dakar

– A total of 452 km remaining
– Peterhansel finishes second on Thursday’s stage

The excitement is building in the X-raid team: just 452km in total and 225 kilometres against the clock remain. Second place on today’s leg, the penultimate one of this year’s rally, means the MINI JCW Buggy duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger (both FRA) lead second-placed Nasser Al-Attiyah by 15:05 minutes going into the final stage. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (both ESP) were third on today’s stage in the MINI JCW Buggy and continue to hold on to third place overall. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) and Dmitry Tsyro (UKR) finished eighth on stage eleven and are seventh overall with one day remaining.

Peterhansel was once again in contention for the stage win today, and frequently set the fastest times. However, two flat tyres resulted in losing a few minutes and he eventually had to settle for second place – two minutes behind his closest rival for the overall victory, Nasser Al-Attiyah. Flat tyres also caused Sainz to stop twice on today’s leg. The Spaniard ended the stage in third place.

Stéphane Peterhansel: « Today was a complicated leg, as already predicted by the organiser. Navigation was not easy and we picked up two punctures. The second was in the dunes, which were very special. We suddenly came across stones in the middle of the dunes which were very difficult to spot. Fortunately, we only lost a few minutes. »

Carlos Sainz: « It was another difficult day: two punctures and a complicated navigation added to it. After one part of the stage we had no spare tyres left and therefore had to take the rest of the stage with caution. »

Tomorrow features the final leg of the Dakar 2021, and the organiser has not made life easy for the competitors. The route heads back into the dunes for a final time, before the drivers can look forward to driving over the finishing podium.

Result of SS11
1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) – Toyota – 4h 34m 24s
2. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / E. Boulanger (FRA) – MINI JCW Buggy – 4h 36m 20s
3. C. Sainz /ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – MINI JCW Buggy – 4h 36m 50s
4. Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA) / D. von Zitzewitz (GER) – Toyota – 4h 38m 26s
5. C. Despres (FRA) / M. Horn (CHE) – Peugeot – 4h 42m 55s…
8. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) – MINI JCW Rally – 4h 48m 22s…
23. D. Krotov (RUS) / O. Uperenko (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 5h 05m 03s…
27. G. Spinelli (BRA) / Y. Haddad (BRA) – MINI ALL4 Racing – 5h 10m 21s…
29. V. Khoroshavtsev (RUS) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 5h 18m 01s

Overall standings after SS11
1. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / E. Boulanger (FRA) – MINI JCW Buggy – 42h 09m 26s
2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) – Toyota – 42h 24m 31s
3. C. Sainz /ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – MINI JCW Buggy – 43h 13m 40s
4. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) – Toyota – 44h 41m 50s
5. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Winocq (FRA) – Prodrive BRX Hunter – 45h 25m 20s…
7. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) – MINI JCW Rally – 45h 36m 24s…
17. G. Spinelli (BRA) / Y. Haddad (BRA) – MINI ALL4 Racing – 48h 53m 26s…
24. V. Khoroshavtsev (RUS) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 45h 55m 43s…
28. D. Krotov (RUS) / O. Uperenko (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 53h 02m 31s…

Stefanie Szlapka,

PUBLICITÉ