Carlos Sainz won the 12th stage of the Dakar Rally by 52 seconds over Nasser Al-Attiyah, boosting his lead to more than five minutes against his Volkswagen teammate on Thursday. Sainz completed the 476-kilometer (296-mile) stage in west central Argentina from San Juan south to San Rafael in 3 hours, 30 minutes, 29 seconds. The Spaniard led Qatar’s Al-Attiyah by 5:20 overall. American teammate Mark Miller was third in the stage and third overall, 28:12 behind Sainz. Robby Gordon completed the stage in fifth with a time of 3:41:25, trailing Sainz by 10:56. He’s eighth overall, 5:52:34 off the pace.(AP/NASCAR.com), for more info, past news, TV and internet coverage info, see my #7 Team News and Links page.(1-14-2010)
