With the twelfth stage, the participants returned from the marathon stage. The way to Shaybah leads them again through the “Empty Quarter” and over numerous dunes. After 185 special stage kilometres, Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski and Armand Monleon finished fifth in the MINI JCW Rally Plus. Their teammates Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue finished the day in 13th place, while Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished 18th in the MINI JCW Buggy. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Ola Floene finished 20th.
Kuba Przygonski: “We found a good rhythm straight away. Today there were again many – especially high – dunes. At one point we had to go up about 100 metres. We were able to overtake a competitor. However, because of the regulations, we lack some power compared to the cars at the front.”
Sebastian Halpern: “The dunes yesterday were very technical. That suited Ronnie and me. Today there were a lot of fast sections. I’m not completely happy with the result. But I am happy that we are eleventh overall. Ten days ago we were still in 46th place. The next two days we’ll really step on the gas and maybe we’ll still manage tenth place.”
The competitors have only two days to go until Dammam, the finish city of the 2023 Dakar Rally, but tomorrow will be a long day: 521 km of liaison stage and 154 km of special stage await the crews on the way to Al-Hofuf. The stage features the last dunes of this year’s Dakar edition.
Dakar Rally 2023 – result SS12
1. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 1h 56m 21s
2. M. Ekström / E. Bergkvist – Audi – 1h 59m 40s
3. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 1h 59m 52s
4. G. Chicherit / A. Winocq – BRX – 2h 03m 34s
5. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 2h 04m 23s
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13. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 2h 12m 19s
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18. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 2h 18m 40s
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20. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 2h 24m 56s
Overall standings after SS12
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 41h 16m 25s
2. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 42h 43m 35s
3. L. Moraes / T. Gottschalk – Toyota – 42 45m 36s
4. G. de Villiers / D. Murphy – Toyota – 43h 38m 46s
4. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 43h 50m 46s
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11. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 45h 51m 24s
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15. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 47h 59m 12s
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20. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 48h 41m 45s
21. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 49h 02m 39s
