Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah produced another impressive performance during the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally as he reduced the gap to new-leader Carlo Sainz by almost four minutes. 

The 2011 champion was 10 minutes behind Nani Roma after the third stage but is now just 4min 50sec behind the Spaniard and 6min 56sec away from Sainz. 

While it was another consistent drive from Al-Attiyah he was overshadowed by Sainz who took the overall lead after finishing more than six minutes ahead of Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel. 

SMG Buggy driver Sainz, the 2010 Dakar champion, produced a memorable drive on the run from San Juan to Chilecito. 

The Spanish driver, fourth at the start of the day, completed the 657km special from San Juan to Chilecito in five hours 20 minutes and 32 seconds.

It was Sainz’s 26th career stage win on the gruelling event and gave him an overall advantage of 2min 06sec on overnight leader Nani Roma in a Mini. 

Peterhansel clawed back a few minutes after a disastrous third stage on Tuesday saw him suffer six punctures in his Mini, but he remains 18min 10sec behind Sainz.

“At the beginning we had to drive in the dust, but little by little we managed to overtake several cars,” said Sainz. “We also got a bit lucky when, about 10 km before the finish, our power steering broke down in a narrow spot amid all the vegetation, but we easily made it to the finish all the same.

“In the second part there was a waypoint where we went right, but after a while we realised it had to be on the other side, so we headed left and we found it. No big deal, I think everyone made the same mistake.”

In the motorcycle section, Spain’s Juan Pedrero took the stage honours while Frenchman Cyril Despres, the defending champion and seeking a sixth career title, was the victim of an engine breakdown on his Yamaha which relegated him to 41 min 17 sec behind overall leader Joan Barreda on a Honda.

Despres had been second in the standings overnight, but he needed to stop for more than half an hour to fix the engine problem which was believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

“My positioning system broke. I had to do a little handiwork to repair it,” said Despres. “But I am not discouraged. The day that I give up is the day I go home. I love this race and there are plenty of stages left before the finish at Valparaiso on January 18.”

Ignacio Casale was winning the quad category while in the trucks battle Gerard de Rooy (Iveco) was in the lead.