That allowed him to heavily cut into the advantage of Brabec, who lost nearly 12 minutes after starting second on the road behind Honda teammate Joan Barreda and finished 10th.
Brabec and Quintanilla are now separated by 13m56s with just Friday’s final stage to run.
Behind the leading duo, reigning champion Toby Price (KTM) sits third after finishing fifth on Stage 11, another nine minutes down on Brabec, with Walkner jumping up two places to end up fourth in the overall classification.
Honda duo Barreda and Jose Ignacio Cornejo are placed fifth and sixth respectively ahead of Luciano Benavides (KTM), the latter finishing third in Stage 11.
Franco Ciami is the top Yamaha rider in 8th, while the top 10 is completed by Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) and Andrew Short (Yamaha).
The Dakar Rally concludes with the final stage on Friday, with Honda remaining in a prime position to end KTM’s 18-rally winning streak.
Standings after Stage 11 (Bikes, Top 10)
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 |  Ricky Brabec |
Honda | |
| 2 |  Pablo Quintanilla |
Husqvarna | 13m56s |
| 3 |  Toby Price |
KTM | 22m34s |
| 4 |  Matthias Walkner |
KTM | 29m53s |
| 5 |  Joan Barreda |
Honda | 30m09s |
| 6 | Jose Ignacio Cornejo |
Honda | 32m36s |
| 7 |  Luciano Benavides |
KTM | 39m14s |
| 8 | Franco Caimi |
Yamaha | 1hr39m14s |
| 9 | Skyler Howes |
Husqvarna | 1hr59m29s |
| 10 | Andrew Short |
Husqvarna | 2hr06m36s |
Source: Yahoo Sports