Dakar 2013: Day 12

Day 12: Fiambalá > Copiapó

Jan 18th

Posted by admin in Dakar 2013: Day 12

Stage 12: Early to bed, too early to rise…

The Dakar Rally returned to Chile this morning. After a painfully early departure from Fiambalá the field trekked 392km through the lofty Andes liaison to cross the border once more. Today’s special was 319km in length – an exhausting task after their second exposure to extreme altitude in the last week. Only 130 motorcycle riders approached the start line today, roughly two thirds of those who started in Lima – and the attrition rate is much the same in the quad class. Now that the rally’s end is in sight, GHR’s strategy is geared towards securing a finish for the four riders rather than risking everything with last minute heroics. All four team riders are now resting up in the Copiapó bivouac in preparation for tomorrow’s long stage.

#89 Brett Cummings managed to climb the order from his 54th start position to finish in 35th place. In doing so he’s continued the upward trend in the general standings, now occupying 50th position. #156 Todd Smith has also capped off four days of improvement with his finish in 21st place today, bringing him to 34th overall. #131 Warren Strange is best placed of the GHR riders, holding 28th overall.

Comments from Todd Smith:
I had a good day today! Made no mistakes and I’m doing better with the nav in the dunes. I’m just focusing on getting the bike to the finish now… can’t believe we are so close to the end, 2 stages to go… up to 34th overall now.

#274 quad rider Paul Smith had this run thwarted today by a flat rear tyre, forcing him to back off for about 100km of the special. It didn’t slow him sufficiently to prevent him advancing in the overall standings where he’s now placed 7th.

GHR times and overall placings: MOTO
28th #131 – STRANGE Warren (AUS) 42h17m05s (+04:30:06 behind leader)
34th #156 – SMITH Todd (AUS) 42h51m19s (+05:04:20 behind leader)
50th #089 – CUMMINGS Brett (ZAF) 45h44m21s (+07:57:22 behind leader)

GHR times and overall placings: QUAD
7th #274 – SMITH Paul (AUS) 48h22m11s (+05:20:36 behind leader)

The penultimate stage in Dakar this year, Stage 13: Copiapó > La Serena, descends back to the Pacific coast via a 90km liaison. 441km of mixed soil, sand and dunes await in the special and the last bivouac site lies in La Serena at the end of a further 204km transport. The rally still has well over 1,300km to run.