Carlos Sainz completes a disastrous 11th stage 1h 15m behind race leader Nasser Al-Attiyah, which drops the defending champion down to third place overall. He now trails the Qatari by 1h 27s.
Day 12 – Chilecito to San Juan (786km; timed special 530km)
“We had to attack today so that’s what we did. I pushed as hard as I could and soon we were only 25 seconds behind Nasser (Al-Attiyah).
“The trouble with riding behind Nasser was that we got caught up in the dust cloud being kicked up by his car. This is a risky business, we knew this but also knew that we needed to make up time on the stage.
“While we were behind Nasser, our vision was severely obscured and this gave us a real problem. We ended up hitting a hole and damaging the front of the car. I can’t even say if we were on the right route or not when it happened.
“We entered the hole braking and that is the worse thing you can do for the car. With the brakes locked, we went straight in and broke the suspension.
“Luckily our team-mates Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford were directly behind us and they stopped to help us out. Mark's car had some spare parts and we were able to replace the destroyed components in record time.
“What made the repair job even more remarkable was that it was carried out not only in the dust but also in incredibly high temperatures.
“During the unplanned pit stop, I lost so much water as we sweated to put the car back together. It was a real team effort that left me simply exhausted. I don’t just need the car fixed overnight now, I also feel like I need a new body.
“Thanks to the help of Mark and Ralph we managed to stay third in the overall standings. I’m really thankful to the guys because without their help my co-driver Lucas (Cruz) and me would still be out there on the stage.
“However, I don’t regret trying everything I could to go on the attack. I never come to a rally to finish second. For me it's first or nothing, so finishing second or third is the same to me.”
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