Day 12

Car 2 Completes the Last Atacama Stage at 15th in the SS.
Car 1 is also en route in great form.
January 13, contestants raced on a 450km SS in Chile between Iquique and Calama. The SS started on the east side of the town of Iquique, 51km away from the bivouac. The first half of the SS took contestants into areas on which they had repeatedly traveled in the Antofagasta-Iquique leg, the outskirts of Iquique, and in the marathon stages (Trucks category only). Contestants were face with dunes early in the race. The second half featured long stretches of hard road surfaces in the intermountain areas near Calama, which were included in the last year’s rally. This stage again proved to be one that tested the teams’ perseverance with profuse dust being kicked up in fesh-fesh segments and dried riverbeds, as well as the region’s 3000m elevation.