Leader has 'hardest stage of life' in Dakar Rally

Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar drove his car and Marc Coma of Spain rode his bike without any major problems in yesterday's penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally, setting themselves up for victory today.

Al-Attiyah finished 6 minutes, 11 seconds behind the winner and defending champion Carlos Sainz of Spain to take third in the 12th stage. Overall, Al- Attiyah leads Giniel de Villiers of South Africa by 48:21 and Sainz by 1:21:16. All three leaders are driving Volkswagens.

"It really was the hardest stage of my life, because I had to keep concentrated and not make any mistakes," said Al-Attiyah. "Sometimes I was going fast, sometimes slow because I needed to keep my concentration and keep the same pace, but we finished the stage without any problems."

In bikes, Coma won the stage, finishing 37 seconds ahead of KTM teammate Cyril Despres of France. The Spaniard leads Despres by 16:36 in the overall standings.