Peterhansel retains lead after 4th stage
France’s Stephane Peterhansel remained atop the overall standings despite Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah claiming his third stage win of the Dakar Rally on Wednesday.
Al-Attiyah completed the 337km special fourth stage, as the caravanserai travelled a total of 813km from Wadi Ad-Dawasir to Riyadh, in 2hr 35min 59sec, just 11sec ahead of Peterhansel, a 13-time champion nicknamed “Mr Dakar”.
It left the Toyota-driving Qatari 4:58 minutes off Peterhansel in the overall standings.
“It wasn’t an easy stage. We lost a minute to an error, but we were hardly the only ones to make a mistake and we quickly got back on track,” said Al-Attiyah, an Olympic skeet bronze medallist at the 2012 London Games.
Peterhansel said the stage had been marked by “one relentless attack after another, and in the end we finished in the same time!
“Apart from a small navigation error near the finish, I don’t think I can attack much more,” said the Frenchman, whose previous Dakar victories came both in a car (seven) and on a motorbike (six).
“To stay in contention, we need to go all out. So far, so good, as we aren’t making too many mistakes.”
Defending champion Carlos Sainz went some way in making up for a costly navigation error on Tuesday by surging through the field to eventually finish fifth, a result that left him 36:19 off his Mini teammate’s leading time.
Yesterday’s fifth stage was to see competitors racing a 485km special between Riyadh and Al-Qaisumah, to the north of Saudi Arabia.
Organisers said the stage featured a tough dunes section and tracks littered with stones. “Haste makes waste — or, in this case, a flat tyre,” they warned.
RESULTS Fourth stage
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (QAT/FRA/ Toyota) 2hr 35mins 59sec, 2. Stephane Peterhansel/ Edouard Boulanger (FRA/FRA/Mini) at 11sec, 3. Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA/Toyota) 1:30, 4. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (FRA/MON/Brx) 2:36, 5. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/ESP/Mini) 2:56
OVERALL STANDINGS
1. Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger (FRA/ FRA/Mini) 13hr 15:12, 2. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (QAT/FRA/Toyota) at 4:58, 3. Carlos Sainz/ Lucas Cruz (ESP/ESP/Mini) 36:19, 4. Sebastien Loeb/ Daniel Elena (FRA/MON/Brx) 48:14, 5.Henk Lategan/ Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA/Toyota) 48:44 (penalty: 4:00)