Marc Coma and Nasser Al-Attiyah are on the verge of being crowned winners at the 2015 Dakar Rally, with Coma on course for a fifth title in the motorcycle category and Al-Attiyah primed to become a double champion on four wheels.
On a day in which neither was in desperate need of pushing to the limit, both were able to consolidate their respective leads in the overall standings on the road from Termas de Río Hondo to Rosario, in Argentina.
1 minDakar 2015 Stage 12 Video HighlightsWatch all the action from the Stage 12 of the 2015 Dakar Rally.
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Bikes: Coma on course for number five
Toby Price was the stage winner on the penultimate day of action, as the Australian took his first win of the Dakar having been an ever-present in the top five since things kicked off almost two weeks ago in Buenos Aires.
Price has been one of the revelations of this year's Dakar, and extended the advantage he holds over Pablo Quintanilla in the general classification to more than 10-minutes as he tightened his grip on third.
Joan Barreda was just under two-minutes behind Price for the day as he came across the line second, with his Honda team-mate Paulo Gonçalves third.
Despite his ride to third, Gonçalves was unable to eat into Marc Coma's overall lead, as the Spaniard came in sixth fastest for the day as he opted to ride without taking too many risks. Coma now stands on the verge of confirming his fifth Dakar title.
Cars: Terranova wins as Al-Attiyah gets ever closer
After finishing a close second to leader Nasser Al-Attiyah in the previous two stages, Orlando Terranova got the upper hand at a third time of asking to take his fourth stage win of this year’s event.
The Argentine didn't get off to the fastest of starts when setting off from Termas de Río Hondo, but picked up the pace towards the end of the special stage to overcome Vladimir Vasilyev and Emiliano Spataro.
Al-Attiyah maintained a tidy pace and was fourth quickest, and he now carries a 35-minute advantage over nearest rival in the general classification, Giniel de Villiers.
As Team Peugeot-Total's first Dakar draws to a close, Stéphane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres again impressed. Peterhansel has a shot at a top-10 finish overall tomorrow after taking a top-seven time, while Despres' first Dakar on four wheels continues apace with a top-20 finish for the stage.
The top three across the Stage 12 finish line in the trucks was an all-Dutch affair as Hans Stacey led compatriots Marcel van Vliet and Gerard de Rooy into Rosario.
Eduard Nikolaev, in pursuit of Ayrat Mardeev for the overall lead, had a setback when he was forced to stop at around 207km after heading off track. Nikolaev lost time and saw Mardeev add around a minute-and-a-half onto his general lead as Mardeev came in fifth for the stage.
There was a lot to lose and it was important not to make any mistakes or crash.
"It wasn't an easy 300 kilometres today. To find the balance to ride like that is not easy, but I'm happy, you know, we are here. There is still one day left, but today was a very tricky day, so I'm very happy. Now we can see that the end is close."
Nasser Al-Attiyah:
I just wanted to start and finish this stage. We did a good job and needed to drive at a good speed, not lose concentration.
"I think we did a really good job and nobody caught us, we had a little bit of a gap. Every day the car is working well, the tyres, we don't have any problems at all. Everything is working 100 percent right for this Dakar. I'm not stressed for tomorrow. If I wake up in good health, I will do my best."
The 2015 Dakar Rally reaches its climax with the final stage of this year's event. It might be the end of a long road, but none of the riders or drivers takes this final stage for granted, and for good reason. Every year, at least one competitor has been forced to retire from the Dakar on the last stage, so it'll be keenly contested, and there will be no celebrations until the finish line is well and truly crossed!
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