2009 Dakar : Volkswagen leads “Dakar” with Giniel de Villiers in front of Mark Miller

Mitsubishi’s Roma loses fourth place on perilous special stage into La Rioja

Volkswagen leads “Dakar” with Giniel de Villiers in front of Mark Miller
Mitsubishi’s Roma loses fourth place on perilous special stage into La Rioja.
Good Bye again for Carlos Sainz.

15 JANUARY 2009

Stage 12
FIAMBALA (Argentina) to LA RIOJA (Argentina)
Road section: 4km - SS12: 253km - Road section: 261km
Total Distance: 518km

Carlos Sainz will not be the winner of the 2009 Dakar. On km 79 of today’s special stage, he drove his Race Touareg slap straight into a dried-out rio, and ended up on the roof three meters lower. Michel Périn got out of car 301 with a broken shoulder. The consultation of the doctor rushed to the scene put an end to the anxiety of the Spaniard who still thought he would be able to keep driving: this is where the race stops for him.

With more than 30’ lead over his team-mate Mark Miller, and three stages he liked coming up, final victory seemed a sure thing for "El Matador", for his thrid participation in the Dakar. This is the kind of change that will be ranking hight in the chapter titled "I breakdown therefore I loose" in the big book of the Dakar. On the plane that will take him back to Madrid, Sainz will have time to meditate on the mishaps of Peterhansel, on the eve of the arrival in Sharm-el-Sheik in 2003, then two days from Dakar in 2006. His countryman Marc Coma might be able to alleviate Sainz’s sadness reminding him how he had to withdraw in the one-before-last stage of the 2007 Dakar. Amongst the leaders in the standings who are also in bad shape so close to the end, Sainz’s Mitsu rival, Nani Roma, also had his fair share of disappointment before winning on a bike. In 2002 e.g. a navigation error made him loose two hours between Tichit and Kiffa, two stages from the end.

The list of unfortunate loosers of the Dakar has been lengthened with the name of Carlos Sainz. Giniel De Villiers has all chances of writing his own name on the list of lucky outsiders whose steadiness might be rewarded at the end of the rally-raid. After the sommersault of Sainz, it’s first Miller who filled up the 27" gap he had at the start of the stage becoming potential first place holder in the general standings.

But a demonstration of talent by De Villiers, between CP2 (km 140) and the finish, led to the second reversal of fortunes of the day. In his pursuit race towards La Rioja, the South-African managed to win his third stage this year. And - more importantly - after a show on sand, De Villiers manages to commit the perfect crime by now taking the lead of the rally with a 2’35’’ lead over Miller. If race order are not strict at Volkswagen, this tiny little gap might lead to yet a new radical change in the standings for the two fast stages that are still on the program till the race gets to Buenos Aires.

Thai's Mana Pornsiricherd on watching
Mitsubishi Thailand-backed Mana Pornsiricherd (Thailand) and co-driver Thierry Lacambre (France) have begun a dramatic climb up the leader board in their Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, since being handed time penalties in Valparaiso. Mana held 74th overall at the start of the special stage into La Rioja and was running 30th through PC2. He eventually reached the finish with the unofficial 23rd fastest time, but his overall ranking will not be known until time penalties have been imposed on other crews.

Overall Leader : Giniel DE VILLIERS/Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ - Volkswagen Race Touareg 2

Stage 12 : Classification

Pos	Driver Co-Driver	Nat	Vehicle	Cat	Total Time	Diff Leader
1	Giniel DE VILLIERS Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ	AFS D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	4:06:43	:
2	Mark MILLER Ralph PITCHFORD	USA AFS	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	4:23:00	+16:17
3	Robby GORDON Andy GRIDER	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	4:32:10	+25:27
4	Dieter DEPPING Timo GOTTSCHALK	D D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	4:48:45	+42:02
5	Leonid NOVITSKIY Oleg TYUPENKIN	RUS RUS	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	5:02:08	+55:25
6	Ivar Erik TOLLEFSEN Quin EVANS	N GB	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	5:21:59	+1:15:16
7	Krzysztof HOLOWCZYC Jean-Marc FORTIN	POL B	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	5:40:42	+1:33:59
8	Miroslav ZAPLETAL Tomas OUREDNICEK	CZ CZ	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	5:44:06	+1:37:23
9	Matthias KAHLE Thomas SCHUENEMANN	D D	HONDA BUGGY	T1.3	6:10:55	+2:04:12
10	Guerlain CHICHERIT Matthieu BAUMEL	F F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	6:11:52	+2:05:09
11	Tim CORONEL Tom CORONEL	NL NL	BOWLER NEMESIS	T1.1	6:28:04	+2:21:21
12	Bob GORDON Willaim HIGMAN	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	6:29:08	+2:22:25
13	Christian BARBIER Jean-Michel RICHAUD	F F	MITSUBISHI PAJERO	T2.2	6:33:22	+2:26:39
14	Balazs SZALAY Laszlo BUNKOCZI	HON HON	OPEL ANTARA RR	T1.1	6:42:07	+2:35:24
15	Bruce GARLAND Hiroaki SUZUKI	AUS AUS	ISUZU D-MAX	T1.2	6:58:46	+2:52:03
16	Xavier FOJ Joan PUJOLAR	E E	TOYOTA LAND CRUISER	T2.2	7:23:16	+3:16:33
17	Juan Miguel FIDEL Javier VENTAJA	E E	TOYOTA HILUX	T1.2	7:34:36	+3:27:53
18	Isabelle PATISSIER Theirry DELLI-ZOTTI	F F	BUGGY	T1.3	7:39:05	+3:32:22
19	Patrick SIREY JOL Paul VIDAL	F F	BOWLER WILDCAT	T1.1	7:48:40	+3:41:57
20	Pascal THOMASSE Pascal LARROQUE	F F	BUGGY	T1.3	8:07:11	+4:00:28

Overall : Classification

Pos	Driver Co-Driver	Nat	Vehicle	Cat	Total Time	Diff Leader
1	Giniel DE VILLIERS Dirk VON ZITZEWITZ	AFS D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	43:46:58	:
2	Mark MILLER Ralph PITCHFORD	USA AFS	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	43:49:33	+2:35
3	Robby GORDON Andy GRIDER	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	45:05:50	+1:18:52
4	Ivar Erik TOLLEFSEN Quin EVANS	N GB	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	49:35:19	+5:48:21
5	Krzysztof HOLOWCZYC Jean-Marc FORTIN	POL B	NISSAN NAVARA	T1.1	50:31:40	+6:44:42
6	Dieter DEPPING Timo GOTTSCHALK	D D	VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG	T1.2	52:20:21	+8:33:23
7	Miroslav ZAPLETAL Tomas OUREDNICEK	CZ CZ	MITSUBISHI L200	T1.1	54:36:34	+10:49:36
8	Leonid NOVITSKIY Oleg TYUPENKIN	RUS RUS	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	57:06:04	+13:19:06
9	Guerlain CHICHERIT Matthieu BAUMEL	F F	BMW X3 CC	T1.2	58:42:58	+14:56:00
10	Bruce GARLAND Hiroaki SUZUKI	AUS AUS	ISUZU D-MAX	T1.2	62:04:38	+18:17:40
11	Bob GORDON Willaim HIGMAN	USA USA	HUMMER H3	OP1	62:06:59	+18:20:01
12	Patrick SIREY JOL Paul VIDAL	F F	BOWLER WILDCAT	T1.1	63:42:40	+19:55:42
13	Nicolas GIBON Akira MIURA	F J	TOYOTA VDJ 200	T2.2	64:15:32	+20:28:34
14	Matthias KAHLE Thomas SCHUENEMANN	D D	HONDA BUGGY	T1.3	65:09:26	+21:22:28
15	Xavier FOJ Joan PUJOLAR	E E	TOYOTA LAND CRUISER	T2.2	65:13:06	+21:26:08
16	Ronan CHABOT Gilles PILLOT	F F	TOYOTA LAND CRUISER	T2.2	67:41:24	+23:54:26
17	Isabelle PATISSIER Theirry DELLI-ZOTTI	F F	BUGGY	T1.3	67:50:04	+24:03:06
18	Jean DE AZEVEDO Youssef HADDAD	BRA BRA	MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO	T1.1	70:35:02	+26:48:04
19	Thierry MAGNALDI Guy LENEVEU	F F	SMG PORSCHE BUGGY	T1.3	70:45:16	+26:58:18
20	Balazs SZALAY Laszlo BUNKOCZI	HON HON	OPEL ANTARA RR	T1.1	71:49:19	+28:02:21