12/01/06 - Bamako > Labe - 368 km - 872 km

Dutchman Hans Stacey on MAN won the 12 th “Lisbon-Dakar 2006” stage. He was 12 min 26 sec ahead of Firdaus Kabirov and 18 min 36 sec of Vladimir Tchaguine. It was Stacy’s fourth win at this rally.

Overall truck standings remained the same. The upper line of fixture list occupied the Russian crew of Vladimir Tchaguine on KAMAZ who had a 3 h 58 sec lead over Stacey. The third was Firdaus Kabirov 3 h 35 min 24 sec behind the leader.

That same day started the so-called marathon stage “Bamako- Labe-Tambacounda” of near 1 500 km length which connected Mali, Guinea and Senegal. It was called marathon because at the intermediate bivouac in Labé there were no support trucks according to the rally order. This was one of the most difficult legs as when it concerned the route and navigation skills of Dakar rally participants. This unusually difficult stage would define alignment of forces before finish in Senegal.

Firdaus Kabirov could not approach Stacey at that stage but he strengthened his third position overtaking de Azevedo by 1 h 41 min.

Friday, 13 January 2006