Riyadh, Jan 14 (PTI) Monster Energy Honda Team rider José Ignacio Cornejo was the man of the day during the second part of the marathon stage at the Empty Quarter as he emerged winner after the completion of stage 12 at the Dakar Rally 2023 here.

On arrival at Shaybah bivouac, the Chilean was 49 seconds faster than Daniel Sanders and had 1:48 minutes to Toby Price.

Stage number 12 was 185 km long and a quite fast route, in a mix between dunes and quick sand tracks.

Pablo Quintanilla arrived in seventh position with a gap of 03:06 minutes, while Adrien Van Beveren was ninth with a gap of 03:16 minutes to Nacho.

Quintanilla kept his fourth position in the overall standings (14:45 minutes to the leader), Van Beveren maintained his fifth position (16:14 minutes to the leader) and Nacho was still eighth (23:14 minutes to the leader).

“Well today I had a good stage, quite solid. Felt quite good on my Honda CRF 450 Rally and tried to push as much as I could. I had a lot of fun in the dunes. I have won a stage and that feels good, especially for my confidence,” Cornejo said in a release.

Evan Branch Ross of Hero Motorsports Team Rally finished 10th.

The 13th stage will be a long liaison of 520 kilometers in the connection between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf. The special section will be 153 km long and this departure from the Empty Quarter will certainly be decisive.

It will be the last chance to surf on its chain of dunes and also to fight for the top standings.

Source: PTI News