Quintero Sets Record, Sunderland Regains Bike Lead in Penultimate Stage of 2022 Dakar Rally
Jan. 13, 2022
Off Road Racer Staff
Young American superstar Seth Quintero may not get the overall Dakar Rally triumph he so richly deserves in 2022, but his triumph on Stage 11’s Bisha loop stage provided a stellar consolation prize if nothing else. Quintero’s 11th Light Prototype stage victory of the event broke a nearly 30-year record, previously held by Pierre Lartigue, for most stage wins in any given event. Lartigue’s 10 victories came across 17 stages in 1994 as he won the car class for the first time in 13 tries; Quintero’s came in just his second attempt at the grueling event.
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03 Sunderland Sam (aus), GasGas Factory Racing, KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica, Moto, W2RC, action during the Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Bisha, on January 13th 2022 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia - Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI[/caption]
Elsewhere, defending motorcycle winner Kevin Benavides and three-time car winner Carlos Sainz took the stage wins, with Benavides rebounding from issues yesterday that knocked him from fifth overall out of the top 100 and Sainz still looking to crack the top 10 overall in his new Audi RS Q e-tron. Nasser Al-Attiyah remains 33 minutes clear of Sebastien Loeb overall in the car class, but the bikes saw a lead change for the fifth day in a row as Sam Sunderland’s second place stage finish, just four seconds behind Benavides, was good enough to snatch the lead back from a faltering Adrien Van Beveren. Sunderland’s advantage is now 6:52 over Pablo Quintanilla with just one day remaining.
The only other stage to see an overall lead change in Bisha was the SSV class, where a lurking Gerard Farres capitalized on differential issues for Austin Jones to assert a narrow 1:41 lead going into the final day. Marek Goczal’s fifth stage victory of the rally, and third in the past four days, allowed him to climb to third overall.
[caption id="attachment_91876" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
403 Goczal Michal (pol), Gospodarczyk Szymon (pol), Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team, Can-Am XRS, W2RC, T4 FIA SSV, action during the Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Bisha, on January 13th 2022 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia - Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI[/caption]
In the truck division, Eduard Nikolaev took another stage win to narrow the overall gap to 8:18 behind Kamaz teammate Dmitry Sotnikov. On the quads, Brazilian racer Marcelo Medeiros scored his second stage triumph in a row and third overall, but Alexandre Giroud remains well in control of the event.
2022 Dakar Rally Stage 11 winners were as follows:
183 Medeiros Marcelo (bra), Team Marcelo Medeiros, Yamaha YFM700R, Quad, W2RC, action during the Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Bisha, on January 13th 2022 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia - Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI[/caption]
2022 Dakar Rally overall leaders after Stage 11 are as follows:
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03 Sunderland Sam (aus), GasGas Factory Racing, KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica, Moto, W2RC, action during the Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Bisha, on January 13th 2022 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia - Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI[/caption]
Elsewhere, defending motorcycle winner Kevin Benavides and three-time car winner Carlos Sainz took the stage wins, with Benavides rebounding from issues yesterday that knocked him from fifth overall out of the top 100 and Sainz still looking to crack the top 10 overall in his new Audi RS Q e-tron. Nasser Al-Attiyah remains 33 minutes clear of Sebastien Loeb overall in the car class, but the bikes saw a lead change for the fifth day in a row as Sam Sunderland’s second place stage finish, just four seconds behind Benavides, was good enough to snatch the lead back from a faltering Adrien Van Beveren. Sunderland’s advantage is now 6:52 over Pablo Quintanilla with just one day remaining.
The only other stage to see an overall lead change in Bisha was the SSV class, where a lurking Gerard Farres capitalized on differential issues for Austin Jones to assert a narrow 1:41 lead going into the final day. Marek Goczal’s fifth stage victory of the rally, and third in the past four days, allowed him to climb to third overall.
[caption id="attachment_91876" align="alignnone" width="1024"] 403 Goczal Michal (pol), Gospodarczyk Szymon (pol), Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team, Can-Am XRS, W2RC, T4 FIA SSV, action during the Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Bisha, on January 13th 2022 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia - Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI[/caption]
In the truck division, Eduard Nikolaev took another stage win to narrow the overall gap to 8:18 behind Kamaz teammate Dmitry Sotnikov. On the quads, Brazilian racer Marcelo Medeiros scored his second stage triumph in a row and third overall, but Alexandre Giroud remains well in control of the event.
2022 Dakar Rally Stage 11 winners were as follows:
- Bikes: Kevin Benavides (ARG), 3:30:56
- Cars: Carlos Sainz (ESP), 3:29:32
- Trucks: Eduard Nikolaev (RUS), 3:54:45
- Quads: Marcelo Medeiros (BRA), 4:53:29
- Light Prototype: Seth Quintero (USA), 3:57:53
- SSV: Marek Goczal (POL), 4:13:12
183 Medeiros Marcelo (bra), Team Marcelo Medeiros, Yamaha YFM700R, Quad, W2RC, action during the Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Bisha, on January 13th 2022 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia - Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI[/caption]
2022 Dakar Rally overall leaders after Stage 11 are as follows:
- Bikes: Sam Sunderland (GBR), 37:04:05
- Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT), 36:49:51
- Trucks: Dmitry Sotnikov (RUS), 39:54:53
- Quads: Alexandre Giroud (FRA), 47:26:25
- Light Prototype: Chaleco Lopez (CHL), 44:11:34
- SSV: Gerard Farres (ESP), 45:24:07