Catalan rider for Honda, Laia Sanz Pla-Giribert (20), talks to the media amid
resting bikers in Calama, Chile. She is 8th overall, two hours behind the leader
Marc Coma for the KTM Red Bull team. With less than 500 km of racing left in the Dakar, the top riders
and drivers look set to take the podium tomorrow in the order of their ranking
last night (SA time).
But leading SA driver Giniel de Villiers can hope the formidable
Nasser Al-Attiyah will yet make a mistake in his Mini to enable the Hilux to
make up the 28 minutes between the first and second spots.
De Villiers lost another three minutes off the pace on Wednesday
because a locating pin had misaligned on his safety harness. He managed to
fasten the belts okay, but had a nagging worry about the integrity of his belts
throughout the long, tricky stage. His concerns were underlined by a spectacular
crash by 2014 Dakar winner Nani Roma. The Spaniard hit an unmarked ditch in the
road at high speed and rolled his Mini several times. However, both Roma and his
co-driver Michel Perin emerged unhurt, but it illustrates how the Dakar can bite
even the best.
One of Dakar’s late stage nibbles was Yazeed Alrajhi, who made a
surprise withdrawal in yesterday’s Stage 11. Alrajhi managed a superb third
place overall on his first Dakar, but his Toyota yesterday did not run smooth
due to an exhaust issue.
Today’s liaison and racing stages leave plenty of scope for more
upsets. The bone-tired racers face seven hours of tedious connecting drives to
get to about two hours of racing.
SA’s remaining rider Willem Saaijman finished the stage in ninth
place to move back into the Top 10 in the overall classification on the quads.
The rankings no longer show malle-moto rider Albert Hintehaus’s standing, and it
is not clear if the solo rider is still in the race.
With his comfortable lead, Al-Attiyah should drive conservatively
but this Qatari driver does not understand the concept. Hence there is yet hope
for De Villiers.
Today’s real battle will however be among the top 15 the drivers
vying for a prestigious Top 10 spot come tomorrow. SA drivers Leroy Poulter and
Rob Howie’s experience on Wednesday shows just how much talent is penned up in
the back. The pair started behind 36 cars and five trucks.
“We just had one of those rare, clean runs on the Dakar,” said an
elated Poulter from the nearly flooded bivouac at Salta. “We overtook all five
trucks and 13 cars on the special — and when we finished we had recorded the
fourth fastest time on the stage … ahead of Giniel and Dirk.”
Tomorrow sees the racers head 393 km to Buenos Aires, with only 174
km of racing en route. But the stage is fast, narrow and twisty and caution will
be the name of the game as the racers strive to beat the Dakar just by finishing
the 9 000 km enduro in one piece.
