Dakar: Stage 12 Ayoun to Kayes notes

Ayoun to Kayes
Connection: 110 km - Special: 257 km - Connection: 117 km
Total: 484 km

Note: This stage is replacing the Nema-Kayes stage initially planned

General:

05:39 - STAGE 12: AYOUN EL ATROUS - KAYES
484 km, including 257 against the clock, are on the menu of the 12th stage. The competitors are now leaving sand behind and entering savannah ground. Typical WRC super fast sections are back on the programme with some forest sections as well. This should allow Volkswagen and Carlos Sainz to come back on top after their Mauritanian ordeal. All the more so that the Mitsubishi pilots, including of course overall rankings leader Stephane Peterhansel, will play it safe in order not to compromise the final sprint.

10:03 - START OF LIVE COVERAGE
Welcome to all. After a day mixing rest and no timed driving yesterday, the race is back on for the participants. The winner of special stage 10, Portuguese Helder Rodrigues was the first one to get to grips with the day's section against the clock at 9h05 GMT.

10:03 - 311 teams at the start
Before the start of this 12th special stage, 311 teams including 140 bikes, 111 cars and 60 trucks were still in the race.

Bike:

10:19 - It's a go for bikes...
Nr 10, HELDER RODRIGUES - YAMAHA, SUPER PRODUCTION
The winner of special stage 10, Portuguese Helder Rodrigues was the first one to get to grips with the day's special at 9h05 GMT as scheduled.

11:45 - The head of the race gets lost...
Be it Portuguese biker Helder Rodrigues, the first one to start out this morning, or Spaniard Marc Coma or even Frenchman Cyril Despres, it's the whole pack at the head of the race that got lost in the 85th km of today's special stage and had to loop for about 10 km before getting back on the right track.

12:20 - Verhoeven and Goncalves in the lead at km 97
Nr 14, FRANS VERHOEVEN - KTM, SUPER PRODUCTION
Nr 33, PAULO GONCALVES - HONDA, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 20 bikes passed km 97, Frans Verhoeven and Paulo Goncalves were both in the lead of today's special stage with the exact same time of 1h24'04, 52" ahead of Isidre Esteve and 53" ahead of Norwegian Pal Anders Ullevalseter. It also needs to be said that the first 11 bikers have regrouped and are now driving together.

Car:

12:21 - It's a go for cars...
Nr 309, AL ATTIYAH/GUEHENNEC - BMW, SUPER PRODUCTION
The winner of the 10th special stage, Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah was the first to get to grips with the day's special stage at 10h59 GMT as scheduled.

Bike:

12:50 - Esteve in the lead at CP1
Nr 4, ISIDRE ESTEVE - KTM, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 20 bikes passed at CP1 (km 138), Spaniard Isidre Esteve was timed as the provisional leader of the day's special stage, 50" ahead of Dutchman Neerlandais Frans Verhoeven and 58" ahead of Portuguese Paulo Goncalves.

Car:

12:52 - Sainz provisional leader at km 54
Nr 303, SAINZ/PERIN - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 3 cars passed km 54, Spaniard Carlos Sainz was timed provisional leader of the day's special stage, 16" ahead of Frenchman Luc Alphand and 42" ahead of Alphand's countryman and teammate Stephane Peterhansel.

Bike:

12:54 - Trouble for Avendano
Nr 261, CARLOS AVENDANO - SUZUKI, QUAD
Victim of a mechanical problem on the rear wheel of his bike at km 56 of the day's special stage, Spaniard Carlos Avendano is trying to repair in order to be able to get back in the race.

Car:

13:30 - Sainz provisionally in the lead at km 96
Nr 303, SAINZ/PERIN - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 5 cars passed km 96, Spaniard Carlos Sainz was the provisional leader of the day's special, 1'46" ahead of Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and 1'51" ahead of Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel.

Bike:

13:48 - Dislocated shoulder for Verhoeven
Nr 14, FRANS VERHOEVEN - KTM, SUPER PRODUCTION
Victim of a small fall on km 181 of the day's special stage, Dutchman Frans Verhoeven dislocated his shoulder.

Car:

14:15 - Roma in the lead at CP1
Nr 304, ROMA/CRUZ SENRA - MITSUBISHI, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 17 cars passed CP1 (km 138), Spaniard Nani Roma was timed as provisional leader of the day's special stage, 6" ahead of his countryman Carlos Sainz and 52" ahead of American Robby Gordon.

Bike:

14:27 - Esteve provisional winner of the day's special stage
Nr 4, ISIDRE ESTEVE - KTM, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 13 bikes have now reached the end of today's 12th special stage, Spaniard Isidre Esteve would be -- pending confirmation -- winning its 2nd stage in this Dakar, 3'03 ahead of Portuguese Paulo Goncalves and 4'04 ahead of Polish biker Jacek Czachor.

Truck:

14:45 - Stacey in the lead at km 82
Nr 501, STACEY/GOTLIB/DER KINDEREN - MAN
As the first 16 trucks passed km 82, the leader in the overall rankings, Dutchman Hans Stacey, was timed provisional leader of the day's special stage, 54" ahead of his countryman Wulfert Van Ginkel and 2'18 ahead of Czech driver Ales Loprais.

15:07 - Van Ginkel in the lead at CP1
Nr 513, VAN GINKEL/TUJSTERMAN/DE ROOY - GINAF
As the first 6 trucks passed CP1 (km 138), Dutchman Wulfert Van Ginkel was timed provisional leader of the day's special stage, 31" ahead of his countryman Hans Stacey, leader in the overall rankings and 2'18 ahead of Czech driver Ales Loprais.

Car:

15:29 - Sainz provisional winner of the stage
Nr 303, SAINZ/PERIN - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 6 cars have arrived at the end of the day's special stage, Spaniard Carlos Sainz would be -- pending validation -- getting his 3rd stage victory in this 2007 edition of the Dakar, 4'52 ahead of Frenchman Luc Alphand and 6'10 in front of Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Bike:

15:26 - Bianchi Prata turns mechanics...
Nr 45, PEDRO BIANCHI PRATA - YAMAHA, SUPER PRODUCTION
Victim of a mechanical problem at km 126 of the special stage, Portuguese biker Pedro Bianchi Prata is trying to repair while his assistance team is on its way.

Car:

16:16 - Sousa 2nd
Nr 313, SOUSA/SCHULZ - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 23 cars have now reached the end of today's special stage, Portuguese Carlos Sousa is ranking second, 3'53 behind provisional winner Spain's Carlos Sainz, but 59" ahead of Frenchman Luc Alphand, now ranking 3rd.

Bike:

16:29 - Sarr doing repairs...
Nr 153, ALIOUNE SARR - YAMAHA, MARATHON
Victim of mechanical problems on km 175 of the day's special stage, Senegalese biker Alioune Sarr is now trying to repair to be able to resume today's special stage.

Car:

16:59 - Mechanical problem for Lu
Victim of a mechanical problem on the rear wheel at km 220, Chinese-Italian team Ningjun Lu and Alessandro Pio were forced to stop in the middle of the trail. After having been helped by the doctors' squad to put their car on the side of the trail, the duet is now trying to repair to get back in the race.

Truck:

17:02 - Provisional victory in the special stage for Stacey
Nr 501, STACEY/GOTLIB/DER KINDEREN - MAN
As the first 8 trucks have now reached the end of this 12th special stage, Dutchman Hans Stacey, leader in the overall rankings, would be achieving his 5th stage victory in this Dakar, 5'50" ahead of his countryman Wulfert Van Ginkel and 8'30 ahead of Czech driver Ales Loprais.

Bike:

18:41 - Summary of stage 12
Pending validation, Spaniard Isidre Esteve (KTM) got his second scratch-timed stage victory in the rally in 3h34'46, 3'03 ahead of Portuguese Paulo Goncalvez (Honda), who wins in the 450cc category. Polish biker Jacek Czachor (KTM) achieves third scratch time. 16th today, Spaniard Marc Coma evidently keeps the lead in the overall rankings, 52'48 ahead of Frenchman Cyril Despres. In the marathon category, first success for South-African Tom Classen (KTM), with an excellent fourth scratch time. Finally on the quad side, victory goes to Frenchman Alan Morel (KTM).

Car:

18:45 - Summary of stage 12
Pending validation, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) gets his 7th scratch time stage victory in the history of the Dakar, the 3rd one this year, in 2h58'56, 3'53 in front of his Portuguese teammate Carlos Sousa (VW) and 4'52 ahead of France's Luc Alphand (Mitsu), who in turn comes back 6'29 behind the leader in the overall rankings, his teammate Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsu). In the two-wheel drive category, victory goes to Russian Sergueï Shmakov (Zil), with the 9th scratch time. In the open category, US driver Robby Gordon (Hummer) wins with 13th scratch time position. Finally in the production category, Spain's Xavier Foj (Toyota) wins.

Truck:

18:48 - Summary of stage 12
Pending validation, Dutchman Hans Stacey (Man) won his fifth special stage in the Dakar with a scratch time of 3h48'04, 4'53 in front of Czech driver Tomas Tomecek (Tatra) and 5'50 ahead of Dutchman Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf). Stacey is still alone in the lead in the overall rankings 2h59'36 in front of Russia's Ilgizar Mardeev.

General:

19:21 - 287 vehicles made it out of the special stage
At 18h00 GMT, 135 bikes, 107 cars and 45 trucks had made it through this 12th special stage and were on the way to or had already arrived at the bivouac in Kayes, the finishing point of this 12th stage

-credit: dakar.com