Peterhansel stretches Dakar Rally lead after stage five

Stéphane Peterhansel tightened his grip on the 2013 Dakar Rally after stage five, extending his overall advantage to 9 minutes and 54 seconds. The French driver’s Monster X-raid Mini finished second on the Arequipa to Arica stage, taking advantage as Nasser Al-Attiyah lost time to a navigational mistake.

Al-Attiyah, running for the Qatar Red Bull team in a buggy, had started the day in pursuit of Peterhansel and set the early pace. But a costly error with his co-driver saw them drop six minutes, leaving the Qatari still second overall but with a greater gap to close. Peterhansel’s consistent run has so far kept him clear of trouble as the rally moves north along the South American coast.

Nani Roma wins the stage for X-raid Mini

Stage honours went to another X-raid Mini, with Nani Roma taking his first win of the 2013 event. Roma, who had made a quiet start to the rally, posted a time of 1 hour 49 minutes and 40 seconds, edging out Peterhansel by 1 minute 23 seconds. The result puts Roma just eight seconds behind team-mate Leonid Novitskiy in the battle for fourth overall.

South African Giniel de Villiers (Imperial Toyota) remains third in the overall classification, despite reporting brake issues during the stage. Novitskiy holds fourth, with Roma closing in after his stage win.

Gordon and Sainz recover ground, but face uphill battle

Robby Gordon, after a disastrous start to his Dakar, finished the stage in third in his Hummer, but remains over six hours off the lead. Carlos Sainz, also hit by early setbacks, was fifth quickest on the stage in his Red Bull Buggy, yet sits outside the top 20 overall and more than three hours behind Peterhansel. Both drivers will need major reversals of fortune to get back into contention.