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

















































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 | 09:03 | 07:10 | 07:10 | 09:03 |
| Connection | 154km | 154km | 154km | 154km |
| Special stage | 419km | 419km | 419km | 419km |
| Number of participants | ||||
| from start | 123 | 127 | 19 | 67 |
| have left | 123 | 127 | 19 | 67 |
| WP1 | 123 | 123 | 21 | 71 |
| WP2 | 122 | 123 | 21 | 71 |
| WP3 | 122 | 121 | 21 | 71 |
| WP4 | 122 | 122 | 21 | 71 |
| WP5 | 121 | 123 | 21 | 71 |
| WP6 | 114 | 119 | 20 | 64 |
| WP7 | 114 | 119 | 19 | 67 |
| WP8 | 110 | 119 | 19 | 64 |
| WP9 | 105 | 121 | 19 | 56 |
| WP10 | - | - | - | - |
| at arrival | 88 | 119 | 19 | 48 |
| WPF | 113 | 123 | 17 | 68 |
Live Comments
23:29 Trucks: De Rooy by a nose
Today's winner was Gerard de Rooy, although his gap on Ales Loprais confirms the threat posed to the leader by the Tatra driver. They were separated by a mere 3'49' at the end of the 419-kilometre stage. The first Kamaz, with Andrei Karginov at the wheel, came in third 16'32' behind the Iveco. Kazakhstan's Artur Ardavichus was fourth at 17'37' and the Netherlands' Wuf van Ginkel (+17'54') was fifth with his Ginaf. In the general classification, the loser of the day was Miki Biasion, who floundered in the dunes and had yet to go through CP3 as of 6:49 pm, amounting to a time loss of at least 1 h 40' to the stage winner. Gerard de Rooy now leads the general classification with 17'10' over Ales Loprais and 33'14' over Hans Stacey.
23:29 Trucks: De Rooy by a nose
Today's winner was Gerard de Rooy, although his gap on Ales Loprais confirms the threat posed to the leader by the Tatra driver. They were separated by a mere 3'59' at the end of the 419-kilometre stage. The first Kamaz, with Andrei Karginov at the wheel, came in third 16'32' behind the Iveco. Kazakhstan's Artur Ardavichus was fourth at 17'37' and the Netherlands' Wuf van Ginkel (+17'54') was fifth with his Ginaf. In the general classification, the loser of the day was Miki Biasion, who floundered in the dunes and had yet to go through CP3 as of 6:49 pm, amounting to a time loss of at least 1 h 40' to the stage winner. Gerard de Rooy now leads the general classification with 17'10' over Ales Loprais and 33'14' over Hans Stacey.
21:53 Quads: Revolution in the quad category!
Tomás Maffei (+54'28') and Marcos Patronelli's bad luck has swung the door wide open for other pilots and yielded a never-seen-before virtual podium at the end of special stage 7. Alejandro Patronelli led Ignacio Casale by 16'10', while Sergio La Fuente, the first leader of the 2012 Dakar in the quad category, came in third at 33'59'. Rodrigo Ramírez and his Can-Am was fourth amid the host of Yamahas, 38'39' back. Emiliano Fuenzalida was the last pilot in the Top 5, 41'31' back. In the general classification, Alejandro Patronelli now has a margin of almost an hour over his rivals. His brother has yet to cross the finishing line.
21:41 Cars: Holowczyc and Roma in the Top 5
Krzysztof Holowczyc finished today's special in fourth place, 14'57' behind Nasser Al-Attiyah and followed by Nani Roma (+15'19'), Giniel de Villiers (+20'59'), Richardo Leal dos Santos (+28'25') and Leonid Novitskiy (+31'28'). These stage results, with the Hummers and Stéphane Peterhansel in the Top 3, allow the Frenchman to keep his lead ahead of Holowczyz (+11'22'), Robby Gordon (+13'09'), Nani Roma (+18'05') and Giniel de Villiers (+34'07').
21:09 Cars: Finish: a Hummer one-two
Just as expected, Nasser Al-Attiyah has set the scratch time at the end of the 419-kilometre-long stage 7 of the 2012 Dakar, beating teammate Robby Gordon by 7'30'. This comes as a redemption of sorts for the drivers of the American team, upon whom Lady Luck had frowned since the start of the rally. On the other hand, Stéphane Peterhansel could afford to play things safe, since the Hummers are not direct rivals of his, and finished 7'53' back in third. Beyond the Top 3, we are waiting for a few riders to arrive before we can get a clearer picture of who were the fastest.
21:03 Quads: The quads finish in dribs and drabs
Ignacio Casale has finished today's special in second place and will certainly climb to the same place in the general classification despite losing 16'10' to winner Alejandro Patronelli. Casale already had a firm grip on second place at CP3. We are now waiting for Sergio La Fuente, Emiliano Fuenzalida and Lucas Bonetto to validate Casale's position and establish the Top 5 in this category.
20:48 Cars: Gordon beats Peterhansel!
The American and his Hummer have bested the Frenchman and his Mini by 23 seconds. A clear picture of the hierarchy will appear in a few minutes, following the performance of Nasser Al-Attiyah, the eleventh driver to set off this morning. Unless there are further surprises, a Hummer one-two seems to be on the cards.
20:43 Quads: Marcos Patronelli loses heaps of time!
Madness at the top of the quad classification! Following Tomás Maffei's many mishaps in today's special, it is now Marcos Patronelli's turn to lose a huge amount of time. While his brother has just crossed the finishing line, he is still 30 km away from CP3. In fact, Alejandro is the only quad pilot credited with a time so far (4 h 36'16').
20:39 Cars: CP3: Nasser Al-Attiyah steals the show again!
His teammate had already set the tone by posting a strong second best time at CP3, just one second behind Stéphane Peterhansel. But now Nasser Al-Attiyah has raised the bar by setting the best provisional time at kilometre 376, with an advantage of no less than 5'53' over the Frenchman and his Mini! Robby Gordon went through this checkpoint with the third best time, ahead of Krzysztof Holowczyc (+11'20'), Nani Roma (+12'22'), De Villiers (+13'59'), Leonid Novitskiy (+17'45') and Ricardo Leal Dos Santos (+19'01').
19:44 Bikes: Finish: Gonçalves comes in third
Portugal's Paulo Gonçalves (Husqvarna) has managed to get a podium place in stage 7 of the Dakar rally by overtaking Cyril Despres (KTM) at CP3. He finished the special in third place, 46' behind the Frenchman. Hélder Rodrigues also performed well and took a well-earned fourth place, 3'46' behind the leader. He was followed by Gerard Farrés Güell (+6'50'), Pal Anders Ullevalseter (+8'07') and David Casteu (+8'43', seventh). Ruben Faria came in eighth, placing his KTM 8'48' behind today's winner, and ahead of Frans Verhoeven (+9'24') and Jordi Viladoms (+11'26'). Hélder Rodrigues (+49'39') holds third in the general classification, behind Despres and Coma and ahead of Paulo Goncalves (+55'33') and David Casteu (+1 h 05'38') who round off the Top 5.
19:15 Bikes: Finish: Coma gains some time
The Spaniard has just crossed the finishing line three seconds ahead of his teammate Cyril Despres. This means the rider on KTM no. 1 has only gained 2'03' on the rider on KTM no. 2 today. At the end of stage 7, the Frenchman still commands the general classification with a margin of 7'48'.
18:59 Bikes: CP3: Hélder Rodrigues in the Top 5
Portugal's Hélder Rodrigues, wearing race no. 3, lies 4'58' behind the leader at CP3 of special stage 7. This could net him a Top 5 finish in the rally. He was only twelfth at the end of the first zone but he has made huge gains in the final part of the course.
18:54 Bikes: CP2: Gonçalves between the KTMs
The rider from Portugal is now sandwiched between the two KTMs, 34' ahead of Cyril Despres and 1'46' behind Marc Coma. The leading trio is followed by Gerard Farrés Güell (+5'53'), Pal Anders Ullevalseter (+6'35'), David Casteu (+6'55'), Ruben Faria (+7'58') and Jordi Viladoms (+8'31'). Joan Barreda Bort is now losing 12'40' after taking a wrong turn about one hour and a half ago.
18:42 Bikes: Pizzolito's mechanical problems
While the leaders approach the 40 last kilometres, attention is focused on Javier Pozzolito's prolonged stop due to mechanic problems. He has been working on his motorcycle for forty minutes now, aided by his fellow countryman Pablo Rodríguez. The exact nature of his problems is as of yet unknown, but he is getting ready to get back into the race in the next few minutes.
18:37 Bikes: CP3: Coma still leads Despres
At CP3, 374 kilometres into the timed sector, Marc Coma is still in the lead and has a total margin of 2'20' over his French teammate, Cyril Despres. Despres has stuck onto Coma's wheel and now lies just 20' back on the course. Is it a strategy? The two KTMs are now in entering the dunes which precede the finish.
18:08 Trucks: Stacey at the end of Zone 1
The third part of the opening zone has clearly seen a lot of movement in the truck category. Hans Stacey has tightened his grip on the lead in the last few kilometres and has a margin of 3'32' over Kazakhstan's Ardavichus, with third-placed Ales Loprais a further 12' back. Franz Echter is producing another good performance and lies 3'49' back in fourth. Andrei Karginov holds the provisional fifth place 3'52' behind the leader. And only then do we find Gerard de Rooy, who is now losing 8'05' after posting the best time at CP2! Yet another surprise: Miki Biasion lies 10'34' behind Stacey
17:44 Trucks: It is Stacey's turn
An Iveco still holds the lead at CP2, this time with Hans Stacey at the wheel. The Dutchman leads his fellow countryman and teammate Gerard de Rooy by 27'. Miki Biasion is just 2' behind his team leader and has a 1'32' margin over Ales Loprais and his Tatra. Artur Ardavichus and his Kamaz are still fifth, 2'04' behind the Czech trucker.
17:39 Cars: Al-Attiyah: the comeback
Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah has clocked a time of 1 h 14'04', proving he can still drive at very high speed despite his many mishaps during the rally. He is the second fastest driver at the end of the first part of the special, 142 kilometres into the stage, 32' behind Stéphane Peterhansel and his Mini.
17:36 Quads: Maffei falls like a stone
The Patronelli brothers are in fiery form and are once again dominating the quad race. Marcos leads the stage ahead of Alejandro, with Ignacio Vasale in third. The Chilean rider has a 8'14' deficit to the faster Argentinean. There is a 3'36' gap between the brothers. On the other hand, Tomás Maffei has dropped to the bottom of the classification and now lies twentieth, over half an hour back
17:28 Bikes: Barreda Bort takes a wrong turn
289 kilometres into the special, already inside the second time area, the Spaniard turned south-east instead of heading south-west. Joan Barreda Bort stopped three minutes later and is reported to be making his way back to the course. Until now, he was second in the stage classification.
17:19 Cars: End of area 1: Peterhansel takes control
The Frenchman confirms his status as the man to beat in the first part of today's special, with a total time of 1 h 13'32' for the first 142 kilometres. Spaniard Nani Roma lies 2'16' back, with Pole Holowczyc 2'39' back in third. Robby Gordon has closed the gap somewhat, losing just 3'42' in this section.
17:09 Cars: Gordon still losing time
Robby Gordon, 4'37' behind the leaders at CP2, has produced a lackluster performance in the first part of the stage. The American's position record shows he stopped for 3 to 5 minutes before going through CP1, somewhere around km 25 of today's special. Was it a flat tyre? Or did he go off the track?
17:05 Cars: De Villiers stays strong
Giniel de Villiers has posted the third best time at km 75 of today's special, confirming his strong performance against the leaders in their Minis. He has just set the third best time at CP2, 2' behind Peterhansel and 32' behind leader Nani Roma.
17:03 Bikes: The battle is raging
The KTMs are virtually sewn together on the course, with only 300 metres between both leaders, Marc Coma followed by Cyril Despres. This means the Spaniard has clawed back two entire minutes from the Frenchman. They are both approaching km 250 of today's special.
16:55 Trucks: And now the trucks
After setting off at the same time as the cars, the 2012 Dakar trucks are in the race and have just gone through CP1, 35 kilometres into the stage. Miki Biasion and the Iveco trio are in the lead with a time of 17'46' - the same as Gerard de Rooy. Hans Stacey lies 6 seconds back, with Ales Loprais (Tatra) at 43' and Artur Ardavichus (Kamaz) at 56'.
16:50 Cars: CP2: a Mini in the lead, but a different Mini!
75 kilometres into the special and the Mini have not relaxed their grip on the lead, but Krzysztof Holowczyc has lost some time and now lies fifth, 2'06' behind the best time. Nani Roma is now in the lead thanks to a total time of 41'20', thirty second ahead of Stéphane Peterhansel. Leal dos Santos is third, 1'29' back, Leonid Novitskiy is fourth, 1'50' back, and Robby Gordon is 4'37' behind the leader.
16:34 Cars: De Villiers, the troublemaker
Is Giniel de Villiers going to make things difficult for the Minis in today's stage? The South African former Dakar champion (2009) has posted the second best time at CP1, 6' behind Krzysztof Holowczic and 10' ahead of Nani Roma.
16:22 Cars: CP1: advantage Mini
The All4 Racing Minis are in the lead at the km 34 checkpoint. Krzysztof Holowczyc has posted a best time of 15'32', followed by Nani Roma (+16'), Leonid Novitskiy (+24'), Leal dos Santos (+33') and Stéphane Peterhansel (+36'). Robby Gordon is over 5 minutes behind the leader
16:12 Bikes: Special 7, Act 1: Coma forges ahead
After the first part of this selective sector, divided into two different acts separated by a 50-kilometre on-road interval, Marc Coma is still the fastest rider on the course with a total time of 1 h 16'59' and an 18' margin over fellow countryman Joan Barreda Bort. Portugal's Paulo Gonçalves is 1'45' back in third, just one second ahead of the French motorcycle GC leader, Cyril Despres. Slovakia's Stefan Svitko is 2'13' back and Spain's Gerard Farrés Güell 2'14' back. They are followed by Ruben Faria, exactly 30 seconds behind Farrés, with Ullevalseter, Viladoms and Verhoeven rounding off the Top 10.
15:58 Cars: Maxi vs. Mini
Krzysztof Holowczyc entered the special at 11:41 am local time, three minutes before Robby Gordon and his Hummer. Next up are the Minis of Peterhansel, Roma and Novitskiy In the car general classification, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel will be looking to defend or consolidate his lead, 4'18' ahead of Holowczyc and 10'39' ahead of Roma
15:43 Quads: CP2: Marcos Patronelli ahead of Laskawiec
Marcos Patronelli is dominating the first part of timed section. 75 kilometres into the stage, he leads Lukasz Laskawiec by 2'09' and his brother Alejandro by 2'43'. Tomás Maffei has lost somewhere around 9 minutes in this section after stopping for around ten minutes at km 58.
15:26 Bikes: López cracks
Possibly as a consequence of his likely fall after CP1, Chile's Francisco López has gone through the second checkpoint of today's special almost 9 minutes behind the fastest rider. He is losing the fight for the stage classification, after coming in second at the first checkpoint.
15:00 Bikes: Coma still in the lead
The Spaniard has even increased his advantage at CP1, 75 kilometres into the special. He has posted a time of 42'41', which gives him a 28-second margin over fellow countryman Joan Barreda Bort. Cyril Despres (+1'03') is third, followed by Svitko (+1'27'), Gerard Farrés Güell (+1'39'), Ruben Faria (+1'58') and Pal Anders Ullevalster (+2'08'). On another note, no. 22 Alain Duclos (FRA) has stopped in the timed sector due to mechanical problems.
14:53 Bikes: Chaleco hits the ground but keeps going
After passing CP1, the rider from Chile fell at km 83. A spectator reported his fall, which was confirmed by the no. 4 Aprilia pilot's tracking system. Chaleco got back on his motorcycle straight away and is now riding at the same pace as his rivals.
14:48 Bikes: Coma in the lead at CP1!
31 kilometres into today's special, KTM's Spanish rider Marc Coma has taken the lead with a total time of 15'55'. Francisco López (Aprilia) lies 12 seconds back in second. Just two seconds behind the Chilean rider comes GC leader Cyril Despres in the provisional third place, four seconds ahead of Joan Barreda Bort. 35 seconds behind the leader, Slovakia's Stefan Svitko is fifth with the same time as Ruben Faria, while Paulo Gonçalves and Frans Verhoeven are riding together, 37' back.
14:14 Bikes: Duel in the sun
Cyril Despres and Marc Coma (KTM) have both begun special 7 of the 2012 Dakar. The gap between them in the general classification was 9'51' at the start of the stage. Today's extremely selective route has the potential to drastically alter the current state of play.
14:10 : Gerard, Ales, Miki and the rest
A host of 71 trucks started to congregate at the start of the liaison section at 9:24 am local time, ready to set off in the direction of Vallenar. Roughly 20 km before this city they will turn west, following the path to a series of big mining sites until they reach the start of today's special. Sunny weather is forecast for the entirety of today's stage once the morning fog has cleared. The competitors may come across a few guanacos, a local species of llama which is quite abundant in this area.
13:42 Cars: 124 cars on the starting line
Krzysztof Holowczyc has passed in front of the clocking-in table at the start of the stage 7 liaison section. He leads the field of cars, which are setting off one by one towards the start of the timed section, 150 km from Copiapó. The Pole and his Mini are followed by American Robby Gordon (Hummer), Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel and Spaniard Nani Roma. A total of 124 cars remain in the race, out of the 161 which started last Sunday in Mar del Plata.
12:21 Quads: The quad leaders set off
The Argentinean trio at the top of the classification in this category were the first pilots to leave the bivouac for today's stage. The Patronelli brothers, Marcos and Alejandro, set off before GC leader Tomás Maffei and will try to pile the pressure on him. 21 quads will face the dunes today, nine down from the 30 which started the race in Mar del Plata six days ago.
12:16 Bikes: Coma and Despres on their way to the start
Pilots have to cover a 154-kilometre liaison section before starting Saturday's special. The two KTM riders open the 128-strong field (178 at the start in Mar del Plata) of pilots ready to measure themselves against the Atacama Desert. This 419-kilometre-long selective section should keep them on their toes. The weather forecast says there may be fog –or camanchaca– just after CP2, 75 km into the special.
Virtual Standings
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