Rally Raid Dakar - Stage 12. Almost the last stage.

This penultimate stage between San Juan and Cordoba, the organisers decided to send the trucks out first along a shorter route than the other competitors, covering the second half of the car, bike and quad special, for a total distance of 318 km. Just like the two previous days, Vladimir Chagin reigned supreme over the rest of the field. The Russian Kamaz driver picked up his 7th stage victory in 2011 and the 63rd of his career on the Dakar. Today, Chagin beat his team-mate Firdaus Kabirov by 1'05 and Spaniard Pep Vila (Iveco-De Rooy) by a little less than 5 minutes. As a result, Chagin closes in on his 7th title. In the general standings, the “Tsar” possesses a very significant lead that stands at more than half an hour over Kabirov. The two men are followed by two other Kamaz drivers, Nikolaev, nearly 3 hours behind, and Mardeev, more than 5 and a half hours behind. Marc Coma and Al-Attiayh still lead in its secrions. General ranking:

1st - Chagin / Savostin / Shaysultanov, Kamaz №500, 46:54:14, 00:00:00.

2nd - Kabirov / Belyaev / Mokeev, Kamaz №502, 47:25:33, 00:31:19.

3rd - Nikolaev / Mizyukaev / Rybakov, Kamaz №512, 50:09:59, 03:15:45.

4th - Mardeev / Demyanenko / Mardeev, Kamaz №518, 52:36:40, 05:42:26.

5th - Echter / Ruf / Klein, MAN №507, 52:39:04, 05:44:50.