Astana team retained 3rd place overall at Dakar

Kazakhstan team Astana has completed the 13th stage of the Dakar race in the 7th place retaining its 3rd place in the general classification, reports Dakar rally’s official website reports. It took Astana’sKamaz piloted by Arthur Ardavichus with navigator Aleksey Kuzmich and mechanic Nurlan Turlubayev 4 hours and 32 minutes to complete the 13th stage. Russian truck finished the stage first in 3 hours 33 minutes and 27 seconds. Dutch racer Gerard de Rooy in Iveco Powerstar truck still holds the first place in the general classification. Anther Dutch racer Hans Stacey is in the second place. Astana team is 1 hour 48 minutes 25 second behind the leader. The 13th stage of Dakar was between Nasca and Pisco. The 14th stage of Dakar in between Pisco and Lima. The distance is 254 km. Dakar 2012 rally started on January 1 in Mar del Plata (Argentina). The route covered more than 8300 km across Argentina, Chili and Peru. The race finishes today, January 15, in Lima, the capital of Peru. The rally involves 4 categories: cars, trucks, bikes and quads.