Stage 12 Winner & Overall leader : 303 - Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz - Volkswagen Race Touareg 2Stage 12 : January 14, 2010 : San Juan to San Rafael: Connection 23 km / Special 476 km / Connection 297 km
Exciting team internal duel for overall lead: Volkswagen provided an impressive example of the power and performance of its TDI technology on the twelfth and longest Dakar Rally stage: Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) as well as Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) dominated the two-part twelfth stage, with a total of 476 kilometres run against the clock, from their team mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). All three Race Touareg were more than ten minutes faster than their closest rivals in the process and continue to hold a commanding lead in the overall standings.
The order in the two classifications is identical: The Volkswagen factory drivers Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) celebrated their second stage win, the sixth for a Race Touareg this year. Towards the middle of the stage from San Juan to San Rafael the two Spaniards were about four minutes faster along the hard and stony subsoil than their team mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D). However, on the second sandier section consisting of many crests and jumps, Al-Attiyah reduced the gap to 52 seconds by the finish. In the overall standings the Qatari now lies 5 minutes 20 seconds behind Sainz. Miller/Pitchford (USA/ZA) completed the extremely fast starting stage 4 minutes 22 second behind in third place. He now trails the leader in the overall standings by 28 minutes 12 second in third place.
At 476 kilometres the twelfth stage contained the longest section run against the clock in the rally. However, 130 kilometres of the route were neutralised as planned. The reason: To bypass a nature reserve via a tarmac road. An ad-hoc action by the organisers confirmed just how great the locals’ enthusiasm is for the rally: In the afternoon such a large hoard of fans from nearby Mendoza stormed to the finish that the organisers had to move the finish 6,000 metres to the 470th route kilometre in order to sufficiently enlarge the spectator zones.
Stage 12 Result : January 14, 2010 : San Juan to San Rafael: Connection 23 km / Special 476 km / Connection 297 km
Pl | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Variation | Penalty |
| 1 | 303 | SAINZ (ESP) CRUZ (ESP) | VOLKSWAGEN | 03:30:29 | 00:00:00 | |
| 2 | 306 | AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) GOTTSCHALK (DEU) | VOLKSWAGEN | 03:31:21 | 00:00:52 | |
| 3 | 305 | MILLER (USA) PITCHFORD (ZAF) | VOLKSWAGEN | 03:34:51 | 00:04:22 | |
| 4 | 301 | PETERHANSEL (FRA) COTTRET (FRA) | BMW | 03:41:18 | 00:10:49 | |
| 5 | 302 | GORDON (USA) GRIDER (USA) | HUMMER | 03:41:25 | 00:10:56 | |
| 6 | 318 | MISSLIN (FRA) POLATO (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 03:48:27 | 00:17:58 | |
| 7 | 314 | SOUSA (PRT) BAUMEL (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 03:49:42 | 00:19:13 | |
| 8 | 311 | TERRANOVA (ARG) MAIMON (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 03:52:19 | 00:21:50 | |
| 9 | 300 | DE VILLIERS (ZAF) VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU) | VOLKSWAGEN | 03:55:50 | 00:25:21 | |
| 10 | 322 | SPINELLI (BRA) PALMEIRO (PRT) | MITSUBISHI | 03:57:26 | 00:26:57 | |
| 11 | 310 | NOVITSKIY (RUS) SCHULZ (DEU) | BMW | 03:57:41 | 00:27:12 | |
| 12 | 332 | BARBOSA (PRT) RAMALHO (PRT) | MITSUBISHI | 04:05:26 | 00:34:57 | |
| 13 | 351 | BALDWIN (USA) WALCH (USA) | HUMMER | 04:18:35 | 00:48:06 | |
| 14 | 317 | VAN DEIJNE (NLD) ROSEGAAR (NLD) | MITSUBISHI | 04:24:46 | 00:54:17 | |
| 15 | 327 | SOLOVYEV (RUS) ZHILTSOV (RUS) | SMG | 04:37:24 | 01:06:55 | |
| 16 | 330 | SIREYJOL (FRA) WISSMANNS (FRA) | BOWLER | 04:43:45 | 01:13:16 | |
| 17 | 353 | SCHOTT (DEU) SCHMIDT (DEU) | MITSUBISHI | 04:49:07 | 01:18:38 | |
| 18 | 341 | MITSUHASHI (JPN) CATTARELLI (FRA) | TOYOTA | 04:52:37 | 01:22:08 | |
| 19 | 336 | LEAL DOS SANTOS (PRT) FIUZA (PRT) | BMW | 04:54:10 | 01:23:41 | |
| 20 | 389 | ZHOU (CHN) PONCET (FRA) | GREAT WALL HOVER | 05:00:14 | 01:29:45 | |
| 21 | 359 | CHAVIGNY (FRA) BRUCY (FRA) | NISSAN | 05:00:31 | 01:30:02 | |
| 22 | 342 | STRUGO (FRA) FERRI (FRA) | NISSAN | 05:01:45 | 01:31:16 | |
| 23 | 356 | SZUSTKOWSKI (POL) KAZBERUK (POL) | MITSUBISHI | 05:02:11 | 01:31:42 | |
| 24 | 379 | POTTIER (FRA) GOSSELIN (FRA) | BUGGY MD | 05:03:07 | 01:32:38 | |
| 25 | 382 | LU (CHN) DI PERSIO (ITA) | CHERY | 05:03:27 | 01:32:58 | |
| 26 | 323 | ERRANDONEA (AND) GARCIN (FRA) | SMG | 05:05:54 | 01:35:25 | |
| 27 | 383 | JIANG (CHN) BARTHOLOME (BEL) | CHERY | 05:07:18 | 01:36:49 | |
| 28 | 370 | FROMONT (FRA) REYNAUD (FRA) | BOWLER | 05:09:20 | 01:38:51 | |
| 29 | 307 | CHICHERIT (FRA) THOERNER (CHE) | BMW | 05:09:39 | 01:39:10 | |
| 30 | 339 | FOJ (ESP) JATON (ARG) | TOYOTA | 05:10:53 | 01:40:24 |
Stage 12 - Overall Standing
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Images : 2010 Dakar : Stage 12 Hi-Light
[Source : 2010 Dakar - Official, VOLKSWAGEN, X-Raid]
