The fat lady hasn’t sung yet, but the outcome of the 2011 Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile was pretty well decided on Thursday’s stage 11 between Chilecito and San Juan in Argentina. (See bottom of post for a Video of Truck Racers on Stage 11)
Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah drove his diesel-powered Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 to his fourth stage win and Volkswagen’s 10th on this year’s event and now leads overall by 51 min 49 seconds from South African team-mate and 2009 Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers with just two stages remaining.
Big news on the day’s stage, which was shortened from the original 622 km to 530 km as a result of heavy rain, was the crash of defending champion Carlos Sainz. Blinded by the dust, the Spaniard they call El Matador hit a hole and ripped off his right front wheel. He lost an hour during which team-mates Mark Miller of America and South African Ralph Pitchford stopped to assist. He also lost second place overall after finishing the stage 13th, 1 hr 14 min 50 sec behind Al-Attiyah, and is now third overall, 35 min 38 sec behind De Villiers.
Miller and Pitchford completed the stage in 10th place and dropped from fifth to sixth overall, 4 hr 42 min 38 sec behind Al-Attiyah.
Sainz’s misfortune will allow Al-Attiyah to have a much more comfortable last two days. A Volkswagen 1-2-3 finish in Buenos Aires on Saturday is still very much on the cards.
France’s Stephane Peterhansel (BMW X3) was second on today’s stage, finishing 1 min 13 sec behind Al-Attiyah and 3 min 39 sec ahead of De Villiers.
“The second part of the stage was much harder than we had previously expected,” said De Villiers. “The first part was also tricky. Many canyons and bushes meant plenty of work at the steering wheel. We benefited from Carlos’ problem – it was a tough break for him after he’d driven so well for so long. It shows that anything can happen every day during this extremely tough rally. You have to be alert all the way to the finish. This is how my co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz and I have been since the start and we plan to keep it that way to the finish.”
A philosophical Pitchford reported that it was their job to stop and help Sainz after they became the team’s ‘water carriers’ after their roll on stage two. “Since our crash we have been running behind our team-mates, ready to help if they should get into difficulties. Today, Carlos needed assistance and we lost just under an hour fixing his car. It means that Krzysztof Holowczyc (Nissan Navara) was able to take our fifth place overall and now we are 40 minutes behind him in sixth place. Our aim is to get the car safely to the finish without losing any more places and perhaps to make up a place if someone ahead has a problem.”
The rally’s penultimate special stage on Friday covers 555 km between San Juan and Cordoba and includes dunes for the first 60 km. It’s another long stage with much at stake.
Alan Straton
Latest posts by Alan Straton (see all)
- LaserTube Brings Fibre Laser Tube Cutting Machines to South African Fabricators, From Compact Shop Units to Bundle Loading Production Cells - 3 November 2026
- SubAlu Sublimates Photographs Onto Aluminium Panels in Randburg, From A4 Gifts and Square Prints to A1 Statement Pieces and Panoramas - 3 November 2026
- Dear Donald: South Africa has Stronger Electoral Laws than the USA - 3 November 2026
- TrueTech Readies South African Homes and Offices for a Year-End Tech Upgrade - 2 November 2026
- Now I Understand Why Investing Is Not for the Faint of Heart - 2 November 2026
