Lost Coma hands over to Després
Portugal's Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha), won the penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally on Saturday ahead of France's Cyril Després (KTM),
who was virtually handed victory when rival Marc Coma (KTM) got lost.
Coma's navigational error in the dunes meant he finished 13min 25sec behind Rodrigues and 12min 38sec behind triple winner Després.
Rodrigues reached the finish line in the 275 km stage from Nazca in 3hr 21min 16sec, a winning margin of 47sec over Després.
Barring an accident, Després will be assured of the 2012 victory on Sunday when he starts the final stage in Lima with a lead of more
than 11 minutes over Coma, who had been the overnight leader on Saturday, 95 sec ahead of the Frenchman.
"I started very fast, as fast as I could, because I knew it would be difficult to stay in the lead of the rally," said Coma,
who lost his way at the 207km mark. "At 25km into the stage I had a mechanical problem which forced me to slow down. It was a gearbox
problem and I feared I wouldn't be able to continue. So I am happy to be here, in second position, which is quite good. I fought throughout
the entire rally and gave it everything I had got at all times. That is the way it is. I am disappointed because I was not able to fight
until the end."
Després, the 2005, 2007 and 2010 winner, said he was sad to see his KTM teammate lose his way.
"I am not the kind of person who derives pleasure from the problems of teammates, and even less when it is Marc Coma," he said.
"At the refueling station I saw I had clawed back five minutes from Marc. I then got lost a couple of times; it was never a big problem
but I had to stay focused. Today's stage was psychologically very tough. I always wait until the last day to enjoy things. I have seen so
many things happen at the Dakar, and even more today. I want to stay calm and enjoy things a bit more."
2012 Dakar Rally Positions After Stage 12
Stage 12 Times - Cars
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA/Mini) 3hr 09min 47sec
2. Giniel de Villiers (RSA/Toyota) at 8:29
3. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS/Mini) 12:55
4. Carlos Sousa (POR/GWM) 13:39
5. Lucio Alvarez (ARG/Toyota) 14:57
6. Ricardo Leal Dos Santos (POR/Mini) 15:04
7. Nani Roma (ESP/Mini) 22:57
8. Jean Azevedo (BRA/Nissan) 24:32
9. Alexander Mironeko (RUS/BMW) 32:10,
10. Robby Gordon (USA/Hummer) 36:01
14. Mark Corbett (RSA/CR4) 45:01
15. Duncan Vos (RSA/Toyota) 45:48
Overall Standings After Stage 12 - Cars
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA/Mini) 38hr 28min 51sec
2. Nani Roma (ESP/Mini) at 42:57
3. Giniel de Villiers (RSA/Toyota) 1hr 15:09
4. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS/Mini) 2 hr 12:56
5. Robby Gordon (USA/Hummer) 2hr 20:05
6. Lucio Alvarez (ARG/Toyota) 4 hr 07:03
7. Carlos Sousa (POR/GWM) 4 hr 32:00
8. Ricardo Leal Dos Santos (POR/Mini) 5 h 06:09
9. Bernhard Ten Brinkel (NED/FRA/Mitsubishi) 5 h 11:41
10. Krzysztof Holowczyc (POL/Mini) 7 h 02:12
11 Duncan Vos (RSA/Toyota) 21h 05:36
24 Mark Corbett (RSA/CR4) 42h 55:09
Stage 12 Times - Bikes
1. Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) 3hr 21min 16sec
2. Cyril Després (FRA/KTM) at 00:47
3. Jordi Viladoms (ESP/KTM) 3:00
4. Joan Barreda Bort (ESP/Husqvarna) 5:13
5. Paulo Gonçalves (POR/Husqvarna) 5:46
6. Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) 5:55
7. Alessandro Botturi (ITA/KTM) 6:32
8. Frans Verhoeven (NED/Sherco) 6:38
9. Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) 7:06
10. Daniel Schroeder (GER/KTM) 8:14
24. Darryl Curtis (RSA/KTM) 21:29
95. Neil Raaf (RSA/KTM) 3hr 19:49
Overall Standings After Stage 12 - Bikes
1. Cyril Després (FRA/KTM) 43hr 01min 54sec
2. Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) at 11:03
3. Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) 1 hr 11:27
4. Jordi Viladoms (ESP/KTM) 1 hr 41:12
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK/KTM) 1 hr 49:36
6. Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) 2 hr 15:47,
7. Gérard Farres Guell (ESP/KTM) 2 h 16:12
8. Alessandro Botturi (ITA/KTM) 3 hr 00:44
9. Olivier Pain (FRA/Yamaha) 3hr 18:46
10. Felipe Zanol (BRA/KTM) 3 hr 24:37
22. Darryl Curtis (RSA/KTM) 7hr 19:00
84 Neil Raaf (RSA/KTM) 29hr 56:31
