DAKAR 2013: Peterhansel extends overall lead to 10 minutes after stage five

Stephane Peterhansel increased his lead in the Dakar rally to nearly 10 minutes after finishing second on Wednesday’s fifth stage.

The Frenchman benefitted from closest rival Nasser Al-Attiyah’s problems, as the Qatari driver went off course and lost time. Team Qatar Red Bull’s driver started the Arequipa-Arica stage strong and set the early pace, looking to close in on Peterhansel. But Al-Attiyah and his co-driver made a navigational mistake that eventually cost them six minutes. The 42-year-old remained in second place overall, but Peterhansel’s lead increased to 9 minutes and 54 seconds.

The stage was won by Peterhansel’s Monster X-Raid team-mate Nani Roma, who set the pace after a quiet start. Roma’s stage win put him in contention for fourth place overall, as he is now only 8 seconds behind fellow Mini driver Leonid Novitskiy. South African Giniel de Villiers remains third, despite problems with the brakes on stage five.

U.S. veteran Robby Gordon regained his pace after his disastrous start to the rally. The Hummer driver finished the stage on third place, but in the overall standings he is still a massive six hours behind the leader. Carlos Sainz has also a lot to recover, as he is three hours behind and outside the top 20. He was sixth fastest in the fifth stage.

Top 10 overall standings after stage five:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Stephane Peterhansel X-raid Mini 10h55m32s
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah Red Bull Buggy + 9m54s
3. Giniel de Villiers Imperial Toyota + 33m50s
4. Leonid Novitskiy X-raid Mini + 37m35s
5. Nani Roma X-raid Mini + 37m43s
6. Guerlain Chicherit SMG Buggy + 56m34s
7. Ronan Chabot SMG Buggy + 1h10m35s
8. Bernard Errandonea SMG Buggy + 1h18m17s
9. Boris Gadasin G-Force Nissan + 1h31m46s
10. Pascal Thomasse MD Buggy + 1h32m46s

Stage five top 10 times:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Nani Roma X-raid Mini 1h49m40s
2. Stephane Peterhansel X-raid Mini + 1m23s
3. Robby Gordon Gordon Hummer + 1m41s
4. Giniel de Villiers Imperial Toyota + 1m51s
5. Carlos Sainz Red Bull Buggy + 3m41s
6. Leonid Novitskiy X-raid Mini + 5m10s
7. Nasser Al-Attiyah Red Bull Buggy + 6m01s
8. Guilherme Spinelli ASX Mitsubishi + 6m41s
9. Orlando Terranova X-raid BMW + 7m15s
10. Carlos Sousa Great Wall + 7m54s

Via Autosport