Al-Attiyah controlled the pace in the 345 km long stage and held onto 8th place. Shortly after the stage the news came that his main rival had a speedzone infraction, which cost him a 5-minute penalty. This widened the lead of Al-Attiyah and promoted him to P7. “It was a difficult stage and not easy because we had to think a lot”, Al-Attiyah said. “We are in a good way. Tomorrow is a shorter stage. We just need to continue like this on the same pace. It is very important to win this race. It’s been good. From the beginning we have been leading every day we have been gaining time. To control the Dakar is not easy, but I think we have a lot of experience now and we just need to manage the situation and to finish. You don’t need to win every day.”

Toyota GAZOO Racing

Giniel de Villiers wanted another stage win, but the 2009 winner of the Dakar Rally fell just short in 5th place. Shameer Variawa picked up the pace after a tough stage 10 for him, he came back to the front and finished in 12th place. Henk Lategan had his difficulties in the first part of the stage, but reached the finish to start in tomorrow’s finale of the Dakar.

Bernhard ten Brinke

The penultimate stage of the Dakar was dangerous, according to Bernhard ten Brinke. The Dutchman conquered the soft and broken dunes with success and finished in 11th place, only 11 minutes down to the stage winner.

Mammoet Team De Rooy Iveco

Mitchel van den Brink had his best day of this years Dakar in the challenging circumstances of stage 11. The youngster was close to his teammates in the race and finished in 9th place. He outraced his father Martin on the stage. Van den Brink senior reached the finish in 10th place.

Riwald Dakar Team

Pascal de Baar is the lone wolf of the Riwald Dakar Team in this years rally. De Baar pushed through the stage and finished in 11th place
The last stage on Friday is 163 km long and ends with the finish podium in Jeddah.