Antofagasta (Chile), Jan 7 (DPA) Spanish driver Carlos Sainz surprisingly took the lead in the Dakar rally Wednesday, as he made the most of Stephane Peterhansel’s apparent problems.
Three Volkswagens topped the fifth stage of the 32nd edition of the prestigious race, which was won by US driver Mark Miller, followed by Sainz and by Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah.
But it was Sainz, who won two editions of the rally World Championship before turning to the Dakar rally, who made the most of the stretch along 483 kilometres in the Atacama desert, between te Chilean towns of Copiapo and Antofagasta.
In the overall table, Sainz now leads second-placed Al-Attiyah by 4:37 minutes.
Peterhansel – who has won the Dakar rally six times on a motorcycle and three times in a car – appeared to suffer mechanical problems in his BMW and lost almost two hours.
In the motorcycle section of the rally, Frenchman Cyril Despres retained the lead. Chilean Francisco Lopez won the stage and climbed to second place overall, although Despres has a comfortable 37:37 minute advantage.
Spain’s Marc Coma, the defending champion of the rally and the winner of Tuesday’s stage, had technical problems that made him lose 39 minutes. He now stands seventh overall, over one hour behind Despres.
On Thursday, the rally was set to move on from Antofagasta to Iquique, over 418 kilometres of Chilean desert.
The 14-stage, 9,000-km event through Argentina and Chile, considered the toughest road race in the world, is slated to conclude Jan 17 in Buenos Aires.
rounak