into a dry riverbed . His co-driver , Frenchman Michel Perin , suffered a shoulder injury and both had to be evacuated by helicopter for medical attention . Perin told PA Sport : `` We had made a small mistake in the first part . We took the wrong direction at a Y crossing but it was not too bad because we did end up on the right trail . We were tailing Giniel De Villiers , who had started about 10 minutes after us , so it was still sort of okay . There was a hidden way-point indicated as ` danger ' -- but it should have been indicated as ` extremely dangerous ' . `` The car behind us , Nani Roma 's car , would have fallen in the same hole as we did if we had not been there already . I 'm okay , I just have something broken in my arm , but I 'm all right . '' De Villiers said : `` It was really a tough stage . In places we would go around in circles for 15 minutes to find the right trail . It was very dangerous and
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- South African Giniel De Villiers is the new leader of the Dakar Rally after he won Thursday 's 12th special stage and Spaniard Carlos Sainz was forced to pull out following a dramatic crash . The stricken Volkswagen of Carlos Sainz after he careered down a ravine on stage 12 of the Dakar Rally . De Villiers , who was claiming his third stage triumph , brought his Volkswagen across the line in four hours , six minutes and 43 seconds -- over 16 minutes ahead of team-mate Mark Miller , who lies second overall . American Robert Gordon -LRB- Hummer -RRB- was third on the stage , the same as his overall position . The route from Fiambala to La Rioja was reduced by 30 kilometers , leaving the special stage at 223km , as organizers accepted the Argentinian authorities ' request to shorten it because of the archaeological discoveries made a month ago in the Fiambala region of Catamarca province . Two-time world rally champion Sainz , who was leading after six stage victories , had his dream of winning his first Dakar ended when , 79km into the stage , his Volkswagen crashed