
| 507 | 528 |
| 502 |
| 505 |
| 506 |
| 510 |
| 512 |
| 520 |
| 526 |
| 534 |
| 464 |
| 435 |
| 314 |
| 315 |
| 317 |
| 337 |
| 347 |
| 377 |
| 440 |
| 015 |
| 018 |
| 048 |
| 074 |
| 177 |
| 507 |
| 528 |
| 502 |
| 505 |
| 506 |
| 510 |
| 512 |
| 520 |
| 526 |
| 534 |
| 464 |
| 435 |
| 314 |
| 315 |
| 317 |
| 337 |
| 347 |
| 377 |
| 440 |
| 015 |
| 018 |
| 048 |
| 074 |
| 177 |

















































































Start Special

Finish Special
Refuelling
Finish
Waypoint*
Waypoint reached*
*Click on the WayPoints on the map to display the Ranking
| Special | Cars | Bikes | Quads | Trucks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | 06:15 | 06:00 | 06:00 | 08:01 |
| Connection | 246km | 151km | 151km | 246km |
| Special stage | 177km | 265km | 265km | 177km |
| Number of participants | ||||
| from start | 138 | 150 | 22 | 72 |
| have left | 127 | 146 | 21 | 71 |
| WP1 | 120 | 134 | 21 | 68 |
| WP2 | 120 | 118 | 20 | 68 |
| WP3 | 120 | 116 | 20 | 64 |
| WP4 | 120 | - | - | 66 |
| WP5 | 119 | - | - | 65 |
| at arrival | 117 | 121 | 20 | 64 |
| WPF | - | - | - | - |
Live Comments
21:22 Cars: Spinelli at snail’s pace
Brazilian driver Guilherme Spinelli (Mitsubishi) is slowly heading towards the end of the special stage and has just passed CP5 located at the 170-km point, very near to the finishing line. He has been in the time section for more than 6 hours and 40 minutes. What’s more, lady luck also seems to have abandoned Marcel Van Vliet (Man), former leader in the truck category, who is still at a standstill in the dunes just after 80 kilometres of the special stage.
20:08 Trucks: Van Vliet in the dunes
The first leader of the 2012 edition of the Dakar has, in turn, fallen victim to the dunes near Taton His Man has been at a standstill for almost two hours, in the same place where in the morning in the car race, Giniel de Villiers lost almost twenty minutes. However, engine problems are the cause of this long halt. The crew have decided to repair the problem themselves.
19:30 Trucks: Loprais rocks the Iveco team
The Czech driving Tatra No. 501 has just thrown a spanner in the works of Team De Rooy, by picking up the second best time of the day, only 14” behind the day’s leader! Behind Biasion and Stacey, the first Kamaz driver is in fifth place, with a return to form for Eduard Nikolaev, 2’04” the day’s best time.
19:26 Trucks: A day for De Rooy
On crossing the finishing line for this fifth special stage, Dutchman Gerard De Rooy has given his team another victory on the Dakar 2012. With his team-mates Miki Biasion and Hans Stacey in his wake, Iveco has again scored a hat-trick, with the Italian 1’19” behind and the Dutchman 1’39” behind.
19:23 Cars: Spinelli in trouble
Brazilian Guilherme Spinelli ground to a halt in the special after 95 kilometres and has been carrying out repairs for a good part of an hour. Mitsubishi No. 310 was at a standstill for fifteen minutes in the morning in the dunes near Taton before resuming racing and then stopping again in its current position.
19:20 Trucks: De Rooy still holds the initiative at CP2
After reaching CP2, Gerard De Rooy (Iveco) is still boss in the truck category, with a time of 2:09’01” after 155 kilometres. 1’57” behind him, his Dutch countryman Hans Stacey and Italian Miki Biasion are separated by 24 seconds, with the former two times world rally champion enjoying a slender lead. Eduard Nikolaev then follows in his Kamaz, 2’35” behind De Rooy. The leaders in the truck category are currently 20 kilometres from the finish…
17:57 Trucks: De Rooy leads at CP1
At CP1 after 64 kilometres of the car/truck special stage, Gerard De Rooy has been the quickest with a total time of 40’05”. He leads Hans Stacey by 47”, whilst Miki Biaison is third, 1’27” behind, Eduard Nikolaev fourth, 1’29” behind, Ales Loprais fifth, 1’34” behind and Marcel Van Vliet in sixth, 4’54” behind.
17:33 Cars: Nasser finally finishes!
Al-Attiyah reached the finishing line just a few minutes ago, no less than 24 minutes later than the best time of the day achieved by Polish driver Holowczyc in his Mini. The Qatari had driven a superb special stage, leading proceedings almost from start to finish, before having to stop to repair problems that occurred on the last part of the stage.
17:27 Cars: News on Al-Attiyah
Apparently the reason for Nasser Al-Attiyah’s long halt several hundred metres after CP2 of the car special is due to a cooling problem. The radiator appears to have lost its liquid, leading to overheating and an automatic cut-off of the Hummer. With the time taken to carry out repairs and refill the coolant tank, more than 20 minutes have been lost by the Qatari.
17:14 Trucks: De Rooy gets to grips with the special
Gerard De Rooy (Iveco) has entered the timed section of the stage, opening the road ahead of Stacey, Biasion and Van Vliet. The trucks will today be following the same route as the cars, for a stage that is 153 kilometres in length. 71 trucks were amongst the list of starters at the beginning of the link stage.
17:10 Quads: A one-two for the Patronellis
The Argentinean brothers achieved a one-two on completion of the special But Tomas Maffei is still leader of the general standings after arriving at the finishing line in third place. Marcos established the winning time over the 185-km special stage this Thursday. With a time of 2:58’37”, he beat his sibling Alejandro by 1’54” and Maffei by 4’08”. Maffei is still general standings leader, though, but only with a lead of 35 seconds over Alejandro and 2’02” over Marcos Patronelli.
17:01 Cars: Gordon sandwiched between the Minis
American Robby Gordon has just finished his day in second place on the special stage, 1’01” behind the best time achieved by Holowczyc, who still leads the Minis. The Hummers have once again been impressive today, systematically placing themselves amongst the quickest cars, until the problems encountered by Nasser Al-Attiyah who has been at a standstill on the special for more than 25 minutes at the time of writing.
16:48 Cars: A provisional hat-trick for the Minis!
Krzysztof Holowczyc has been the quickest of the drivers to finish on completion of this fifth special on the Dakar 2012. Stephane Peterhansel is second, 3’52” behind the Polish driver, and leads his team-mate Nani Roma by 7’47”. We are awaiting the arrival of Robby Gordon, because it seems that Nasser Al-Attiyah is still at a halt on the special stage at present
16:45 Cars: Al-Attiyah stops after CP2!
The Qatari is not having a simple time on the rally this year. Hummer No. 300 has been at a standstill for several minutes a few hundred metres after CP2 at the 155-km point. Al-Attiyah had just achieved the best intermediate time in the car category.
16:35 Cars: The Hummers still lead at CP2
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Robby Gordon were the quickest drivers to reach CP2 after 155 kilometres of the day’s special. With a total time of 1:45’47”, the winner of the Dakar 2011 is holding out against his rivals and currently leads Robby Gordon by 3’38”.
16:23 Bikes: Borreda Bort sneaks into third place
Young Spaniard Juan Borreda Bort, twelfth to start, has just achieved the third best time of the day, 12’42” behind Cyril Despres. Jordi Viladoms has also shone in this special stage by picking up the fifth best time, 14’17” behind the day’s winner, ahead of Pal Anders Ullevalseter. The Norwegian completed the timed section 14’41” behind the day’s best time, finishing in front of Chilean Francisco Lopez (19’10” behind Despres).
16:16 Bikes: Rodrigues reaches the finish
More than 25 minutes after the uncontested leaders of the Dakar 2012, Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, Helder Rodrigues has just arrived at the finishing line, followed by Paulo Goncalves and Stefan Svitko. For the scratch time, the Slovak is on the last step of the day’s podium for the moment, 13’55” behind the day’s winner, with Goncalves in fourth, 19’31” behind Despres, Juan Pedrero in fifth place, 20’45” behind. Rodrigues features next in sixth (21’08” behind) having lost a significant amount of time around CP1 whilst looking for the right track. As a reminder, the most time lost today will be for Dutchman Frans Verhoeven, who has returned to the special stage and has so far completed 57 km
15:55 Cars: Clarifications at CP1
Around thirty car category competitors have reached CP1 of today’s special, giving a better picture of how the race is shaping up: behind Al-Attiyah, Holowczyc, Gordon and Peterhansel, Russia’s Novitskiy is fifth, 4’27” behind the stage leader, ahead of Giniel de Villiers, 4’30” behind, Ricardo Leal Dos Santos, 4’31” behind, Nani Roma, 4’51” behind and Carlos Sousa, 5’43” behind.
15:38 Bikes: Despres wins the special!
Frenchman Cyril Despres has won the stage in 2:28’33”. He beat Marc Coma by 1’41” on completion of the 185-km route. As a result, Despres increases his lead in the bike general standings of the Dakar 2012
15:33 Bikes: Problems for Casteu?
French rider David Casteu stopped after 133 km of the special stage, just after reaching CP1. He appears to have lost half a dozen minutes at this point.
15:27 Cars: The Hummers aren’t giving up
Nasser Al-Attiyah is still as combative as ever, in spite of the various mishaps that have slowed him down over the last few days. He has just reached CP1 as stage leader, 1’39” ahead of Krzysztof Holowczyc. Robby Gordon is third, 2’12” behind his team-mate.
15:24 Cars: De Villiers back on track
Giniel De Villiers has resumed the special after coming to a standstill after 76 km of the special in a zone of dunes. He has lost ten minutes on the race leader.
15:22 Cars: De Villiers stops after 76 km
The Toyota Hilux driven by the South African has been at a standstill since 11.04 AM in the dunes at Taton to the east of Fiambalá.
15:13 Bikes: Rodrigues third
A little less than six minutes behind the current stage leader, Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues has just reached CP1 in third place, after 128 km of the day’s special for bikes.
15:01 Cars: Holowczyc quickest at CP1
At CP1 on the car special on the fifth day of the rally, Poland’s Holowczyc has achieved the best time of 33’52” with a lead of 58” over Stephane Peterhansel, 2’51” over Giniel De Villiers and 3’12” over Nani Roma.
14:59 Bikes: Despres leads Coma at CP1
With a time of 1:45’56”, Cyril Despres reached CP1 in the lead, in front of Marc Coma by a margin of 58 seconds.
14:57 Bikes: Have Coma and Desprès got lost?
The two KTM riders were localised too far to the north in relation to the planned route, in particular concerning CP1, located at the 128 km point. Cyril Despres and Marc Coma then returned to the check-point after having ridden for several kilometres too far.
14:45 Cars: Terranova absent from the start
The Argentinean’s Toyota was not amongst the starters this morning. Orlando Terranova has given his tracking equipment back to the organisers and seems to have withdrawn from the race. For the moment, no explanation has been given for this decision.
14:18 Cars: The cars get to grips with the special
Stephane Peterhansel started the cars’ special at 10.15 AM as scheduled, with 153 km ahead of him including the dunes around Fiambalá. 138 cars are on today’s list of starters. Following Peterhansel, the Toyotas of Terranova and De Villiers as well as Holowczyc and his Mini will be the ones to watch
14:06 Bikes: Continuing setbacks for Verhoeven
After his first stop at around 9.20 AM local time, Frans Verhoeven was able to resume the race, albeit at a slow speed before turning around on the special stage. He is now heading towards the start of the stage, most likely to meet one of his assistance vehicles.
14:04 Bikes: Short stop for Barreda and Duclos
Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort and Frenchman Alain Duclos stopped briefly after 32 kilometres of the special in an area of small dunes typical of the pampa grasslands.
13:36 Bikes: Verhoeven at a standstill…
The Dutch rider stopped on the special stage after 16 km for approximately ten minutes, and has only just set off again.
13:10 Bikes: Special stage underway!
Marc Coma kicked off proceedings for the day’s special at 9.00 AM local time. The Spaniard, who won yesterday’s stage, will set off on to the tracks ahead of his team-mate Cyril Despres, Frans Verhoeven, Helder Rodrigues and Paulo Goncalves. A pack of 150 bikes will be tackling this re-shaped 186-km special stage.
12:58 Bikes: Special stage shortened
The timed section, which will start in the following minutes, will be shortened due to the heavy rainfall that has adversely affected the end of the stage route. The finishing line will therefore be moved to the 186 km point, instead of the 265 km, as previously planned for the bikes. The route for the cars and trucks remains unchanged apart from the removal of the first 24 kilometres decided upon during the night.
12:54 : Modifications to the day’s stage
The heavy rainfall that has affected the province of Catamarca since yesterday has led to several modifications in to the day’s proceedings for the Chilecito-Fiambalà stage. The initial consequence is a 30-minute delay to the start of the bikes’ special, which should now start at 9.00 AM local time. The route may undergo further adjustments depending on the findings of scouts sent out to check the tracks.
11:11 Cars: Modification of the car/truck route
Due to the heavy rain that fell on the provinces of La Rioja and Catamarca, the start of the stage for cars and trucks has been moved to the 24 km point, shortening the stage by this distance. As a result, the cars will set off on the link stage 30 minutes later. The first car, driven by Stephane Peterhansel, yesterday’s winner and new leader of the general standings, left Chilecito at 6.45 AM local time. A total of 138 cars feature on the list of starters.
11:03 Bikes: Coma heads to Fiambalá
Marc Coma, winner of yesterday’s stage, has left the bivouac. It was at 6.00 AM local time that the first of the one hundred and fifty bikers expected to take starter’s orders this morning left Chilecito towards the start of the day’s special. There are 151 kilometres of link stage to cover before reaching the timed section, measuring 265 km for the bikes and quads, who will not be taking the same route as the bikes and trucks today. The start of the special stage is scheduled for 8.30 AM local time.
Virtual Standings
WPS
WP1
WP2
WP3
WP4
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The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors
WP5
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The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors
WPA
WPF
Overall WPF
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The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
The Standing for this waypoint is not available yet, waiting for the competitors.
Stage