Carlos Sainz wins the stage by completing the course 1m 56s quicker than team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah, Carlos remains in second place overall, trimming Nasser’s lead to 3m 18s.
Day 11 – Copiapo to Copiapo (235km; timed special 207km)
“Today was a short stage but by no means an easy one. It was all dunes, desert and off-track terrain and none of those are my favourite type of surface to drive on.
“After abut 100km, halfway through the timed special stage, we caught up with my team-mate Nasser (Al-Attiyah). Nasser was driving along on the left side of the track and we saw a small opportunity open up on the right side to make the pass.
“Nasser followed behind us for a short time but then we lost track of him. I understand now that he suffered a puncture. Despite this setback, he still managed to come at us again.
“Nasser showed his quality over the dunes to catch up with us after his puncture. He must have been really flying out there once he fixed the problem with his tyre.
“We were about 100m from the finish line when Nasser managed to overtake us. I knew then that we had taken just under two minutes out of his lead today.
'The Dakar is always decided by who can avoid making mistakes'
“I’m always happy to win a stage on the Dakar but I know that it now means I must open the road tomorrow. This is especially difficult tomorrow because it is such an important stage.
“After a long liaison section we will drive the timed special stage over the dunes of Fiambala back in Argentina. This region seems to have played a crucial role in the overall standings of the rally over the past couple of years.
“Because I’m opening the road I must be prepared for a worse case scenario of losing the two minutes we managed to claw back today. It could be a straight role reversal of what happened today.
“However, we are not so far behind and the tables could easily turn again in our favour. The Dakar is always decided by who can avoid making mistakes.
“Nasser and myself both have a good car but it's important to remember to be careful at all times because you never know what can happen in this race.”
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