Update 23.09: The McRae’s also finished the 13th day. Chris is finished in 43rd place and Tim right behind him in the 44th place.

Update 18.01:  Both McRae’s are past point 165.0 km, Chris in 38th place and Tim in 42nd place. Looks like Tim had a flat tire between point 100.0 km and 165.0 km. At point 100.0 km, Tim was in 33rd place.

After a fairly good day for the McRae team, where Tim finished 43th (a day without any problems) and a 50th time for Chris, the McRae’s are now heading to Santa Rosa. This is again a long stage, counting 725 whole kilometers. The timed section is about 368 kilometers long, but the first fifty will really count, because they are the last dunes of the rally. Differences are made there. The rest of the timed section is very fast and hard to make a difference. Since this is the last ‘real’ stage, we expect some fireworks.

Starting times for Tim and Chris:

45 Coronel T. 009h55’30″

52 Leyds C. 010h04’00″

Dakar.com says:

725 km are on the menu for the 13th and penultimate stage of the 32nd Dakar, which will be the last opportunity for the leading competitors to change the rankings. In fact, although the timed section is 368-km long, the difference will probably be made over the first 50 kilometres, where they must cross an erg made up of the last dunes of the rally in the grey sands of Nihuil. After that, the competitors will have to tackle wide and very quick tracks, where it will be almost impossible to open up gaps, at least not without taking enormous risks.