Australian Toby Price has extended his overall Dakar race lead to over 37 minutes on the penultimate stage held between San Juan and Villa Carlos Pas in Argentina overnight.
Price aboard his Red Bull Factory KTM finished the stage in second position, seven minutes behind Honda's Helder Rodrigues who can now lay claim to winning the longest stage on this years event.
Kevin Benavides crossed the line in thrid position, ahead of Price's nearest rival, Sefan Svitko.
The big news of the day came in the form of a crash by Antoine Meo who headed into stage 12 in third position in the overall classification. While the KTM riders was able to re-mount and finish the stage, he dropped nearly 30 minutes to the lead riders, elevating Quntanilla into third position, some 16 minutes behind Svitko in second and a full 53 minutes behind race leader Price.
Rodrigues stage win moved him up into 4th position overall gaining over 15 minutes on Quntanilla and in doing so now sits just 1 minute and 20 seconds out of the final podium position. Benavides rounds out the top five and is also in with a chance of stealing the final step on this years Dakar podium, only 4 minutes and 18 seconds behind Quintanilla.
Riders now have 180km of Special Test and a total of 699km to traverse from Villa Carlos Pas to Rosario to reach the finish line at this years Dakar.
Stage 12 Results
1. RODRIGUES (PRT) 05:57:24
2. PRICE (AUS) +00:07:32
3. BENAVIDES (ARG) +00:07:55
4. SVITKO (SVK) +00:09:48
5. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) +00:10:28
6. QUINTANILLA (CHL) +00:15:23
7. FARRES GUELL (ESP) +00:20:04
8. MONLEON (ESP) +00:20:15
9. PAIN (FRA) +00:20:36
10. CERUTTI (ITA) +00:21:29
Overall Standings After Stage 12 of 13
1. PRICE (AUS) - 46:13:26
2. SVITKO (SVK) +00:37:39
3. QUINTANILLA (CHL) +00:53:10
4. RODRIGUES (PRT) +00:54:29
5. BENAVIDES (ARG) +00:57:28
6. MEO (FRA) +01:14:50
7. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) +01:36:42
8. FARRES GUELL (ESP) +01:54:30
9. BRABEC (USA) +02:03:06
10. MONLEON (ESP) +03:19:13
Top Image: Australia's Toby Price will carry a 37 minute lead into the final 699km stage of this years Dakar Rally
Credit: M.Kin
