DeRooy wins stage 2

Seven trucks amongst the elite drivers in the category have crossed the finishing line in Nihuil, and Dutchman Gerard De Rooy (Iveco) is still the quickest over the 295-km timed section, with a total time of 3 hours and 10 minutes. Following him are Russian Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz), 3'21” behind, De Rooy's countryman Hans Stacey (Iveco), 4'56” behind, in third, Russian Ayrat Mardeev (Kamaz), 4'58” behind in provisional fourth place and, rounding off the Top 5, the Tatra of Ales Loprais, 6'07” behind.




The five leading drivers of the day are followed by Kazakh Artur Ardavichus (Kamaz), 6'30” behind, Italian Miki Biasion (Iveco), 9'40e behind, and Dutchman Marcel Van Vliet (Man), who lags behind by 9'56” and losses the lead in the truck general standings as a result.

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Nasser Al attiyah wins stage 2

Peterhansel was expected to triumph over the day's 290 kilometres, but it was another former Dakar winner who was victorious at the wheel of his new machine. Nasser Al-Attiyah was the quickest today by 54 seconds. Behind him, after Stephane Peterhansel, the Qatari's team-mate Robby Gordon confirmed that the imposing American 4x4s were reliable in these types of conditions. Holowczyc and Roma complete the Top 5, shared between the Maxi Hummers and the Mini All4.




The result of this second stage means that Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel has taken control of the general standings with a lead of 2'28” over American Robby Gordon (Hummer), who only leads the Mini of Polish driver Holowczyc by 5 seconds. Giniel De Villiers (SAF) in his Toyota is fourth, 3'49” behind, and Nani Roma is in fifth place, 5'32” behind, whilst currently leading Nasser Al-Attiyah who, by shear force of will, picked up sixth place today.

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The Trucks are on the road to Mendoza

Dutchman Marcel Van Vliet set off in his Man truck to San Rafael from Santa Maria de la Pampa this morning at 9.02 AM local time, to tackle the second Argentine stage of the Dakar 2012. He was followed by the Iveco of his countryman Gérard De Rooy, second on the first day's special stage between Mar del Plata and Santa Maria. Afterwards, German Franz Echter (Man) and former two times world rally champion Miki Biasion (ITA) in his Iveco truck set off on the 487 kilometre link stage leading to today's special stage.

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Nasser al attiyah: "not very confident any more"

After a difficult first day, the title holder arrived at the bivouac in Santa Rosa at 11 PM, at the wheel of a Hummer which was probably going do need a good night's work to be able to take starter's orders for the 2nd stage in suitable conditions: “2 km from the finishing line on the special stage, we could smell something burning, because the fuel pump flexible had melted. Robby towed us to the finishing line and on the link stage we stopped with Lucas to repair it. We both spent two hours at work, because our assistance truck did not turn up.






Afterwards, we had to stop every 100 km to put some more oil in. Now I'm hoping that the mechanics will work well to solve this problem and especially to make sure there aren't any more mishaps. As for victory, I'm not very confident any more, but I'll have to keep on believing in my chances. Sometimes, that's just what rally-raid driving is like”.

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Marc Coma, with good feelings

The Spanish rider Marc Coma says being with "good feeling" ahead of his tenth participation in Dakar, where he will seek his fourth victory and the second with his KTM.
"The truth is I have a good feeling and physically I am in full conditions. We expect a very demanding and tough rally, where the experience will be a very important factor." Marc Coma analyzed prior to the start of the world's toughest race.




The last winner, who denied he is "under pressure", is attending the South American event, which ends in Lima, Peru, "with the same strength and determination" in its previous editions.

So, he knows that he must "compete as usual" and only then he will have options to win. "It is clear that victory is the best reward, but we have to go step by step," he concluded.

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