Dakar 2013 Stage 12: The More Things Change…

© Red Bull Media House

As the 2013 edition of the Dakar Rally winds down the overall leaders consolidate their positions and everyone else looks for a stage win.  Hit the jump for our typical amateruish critique of the stage and some video of Robby Gordon going flat out in the South American desert.

Cars:

Image Courtesy: X-Raid.de

Nani Roma took the stage win today, beating out second place Robby Gordon in the last kilometers of the stage.  Meanwhile, Peterhansel ate a sandwich, took a nap, read a few stories to some school children and cruised to a comfortable third place in the stage, further solidifying his monstrous lead in the overall standings. At this point it seems like Peterhansel is a lock to win the Dakar.

Robby Gordon continues his run solid stage finishes and one can only assume that he’s wondering what might have been.  That’s the story of Dakar, not only do you have to be fast but you’ve also got to be lucky and once again it seems that Gordon might be one of the unluckiest top tier contenders in the Dakar Rally.

Here’s a video from PlanetRobby.com to give you an idea of what it’s like inside Gordon’s Speed Energy/MAPEI/TOYO Tires HUMMER race buggy.

Motorcycles:

Maragni M. KTM Images

The motorcycle category isn’t quite as sewn up as the cars but Cyril Despres remains in control of the race with his teammate Faria five minutes behind.  Only 13:40 back Chilean, Francisco “Chileco” Lopez still has an outside chance to make up ground but it definitely won’t be easy against Dakar veterans like Despres and Faria.

Today’s stage was dominated by, Despres and Faria, but Dutchman Frans Verhoeven managed to sneak by the KTM teammates to win his first stage of this years Dakar by a scant 1:38.  Verhoeven remains over an hour down on the leaders in 7th place overall.

Stage 12 Fiambala-Copiapo