Even before the start of day eleven, the leg around Bisha was regarded as one of the most difficult of this year’s Dakar. Unfortunately, the X-raid drivers were unable to exploit their strengths. Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski (POL) and Timo Gottschalk (GER) ended the stage in 15th place in the MINI JCW Buggy. Their team-mates Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished 16th in their MINI JCW Buggy. Argentineans Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue had to settle for 29th place in another MINI JCW Buggy, just ahead of Laia Sanz (ESP) and Maurizio Gerini (ITA) in a MINI ALL4 Racing.
Lady Luck deserted Przygonski and Gottschalk on Thursday. Having had to stop twice for punctures early on in the stage, they had to take a more cautious approach for the rest of the day. The regulations state that only two spare tyres may be carried on the Buggy. As such, they had to settle for 15th on the stage and dropped back to sixth place in the overall standings.
Kuba Przygonski: “We wanted to push today, but we then had two punctures in the first 70 kilometres. After that, we had to take our foot off the gas a little, as we were afraid of suffering a third flat tyre. Anyway, we made it to the finish. Let’s see what we can achieve tomorrow.”
It was not a successful day for Halpern either. Hampered by the dust whipped up by another car, he spotted a small dune too late and got stuck. It took roughly a quarter of an hour to free the car. He reached the finish in 29th place and tenth overall.
Sebastian Halpern: “The stage was difficult, as the dunes were very soft. We got stuck on a small but very soft dune, which cost us about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, we lost eighth place in the overall standings as a result.”
The dust also made life difficult for Sanz, who also found herself stuck in the sand as a result of the poor visibility. Apart from that, she came through the stage without any issues and remains 23rd overall.
Laia Sanz: “We were really fast in the dunes. Unfortunately, a slower car in front of us did not let us pass and we had to drive through all the dust on the sandy surface. As we could hardly see anything, we ended up getting stuck. Unfortunately, that cost us a few minutes. That was a tough stage today, so I am still happy with the result.”
Tomorrow’s twelfth leg brings the 2022 Dakar to a close: The drivers will tackle a final 164 kilometres against the clock on the 680-kilometre route to Jeddah. The terrain remains sandy, but there are no more dunes to negotiate.
Dakar Rally – Result of SS11
1. C. Sainz / L. Cruz – Audi – 3h 29m 32s
2. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 3h 31m 53s
3. L. Alvarez / A. Monleon – Toyota – 3h 32m 42s
4. M. Ekström / E. Bergkvist – Audi – 3h 33m 25s
5. G. De Villiers / D. Murphy – Toyota – 3h 34m 43s
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15. J. Przygonski / T. Gottschalk – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 47m 09m
16. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 47m 59s
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29. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Buggy – 4h 02m 53s
30. L. Sanz / M. Gerini – MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 03m 17s
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38. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – MINI JCW Rally – 4h 21m 55s
Overall standings after SS11
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 36h 49m 51s
2. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 37h 18m 10s
3. Y. Al-Rajhi / M. Orr – Toyota – 37h 53m 34s
. O. Terranova / D. Oliveras – BRX – 38h 21m 20s
5. G. De Villiers / D. Murphy – Toyota – 38h 34m 02s
6. J. Przygonski / T. Gottschalk – MINI JCW Buggy – 38h 41m 48s
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10. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Buggy – 39h 29m 51s
11. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – MINI JCW Rally – 40h 26m 14s
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23. L. Sanz / M. Gerini – MINI ALL4 Racing – 42h 57m 15s
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28. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 45h 00m 03s
