SAN RAFAEL, Argentina — Beset by problems that set them back Wednesday, Volkswagen Motorsport teammates Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah fought it out at the front of the pack during Stage 12 Thursday.
Sainz scored his second victory in the last three stages but increased his lead over 2nd-place Al-Attiyah by only a few seconds. A third Volkswagen Race Touareg took 3rd place, with Mike Miller — also 3rd in overall standings — at the wheel.
Sainz and Al-Attiyah finished 9th and 4th, respectively, in Stage 11. Al-Attiyah carved about half of Sainz's lead, drawing within 4 minutes, 28 seconds of the leader. When the dust settled Thursday, the lead was 5:20.
Miller lost some 5 minutes and trails by 28:12 with two stages of competition remaining.
A pattern of the previous day's leader encountering problems continued, with Stage 11 winner Guerlain Chicherit falling from the lead with a broken suspension part on his BMW.
Sainz, a two-time world rally champion, was eliminated from last year's Dakar by a crash in Stage 12. Today's 450-mile trip from San Rafael to Santa Rosa includes a 229-mile high-speed special stage.
The 14th and final stage is scheduled to bring racers back to the starting point in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Inside Line says: Nothing but disaster, apparently, can prevent a second straight dominant victory in South America by Volkswagen. — David Green, Correspondent
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