Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah edged closer to a second Dakar Rally victory on Friday when he claimed his third stage win out of six along Chile’s Pacific coast.
– Orlando Terranova triumphs in the Dakar Rally dirt
Al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion, had already won the second and fourth stages and his latest triumph meant that Mini, who swept the 2014 podium, maintained their record of winning all the stages so far.
The Qatari took the honours on the 318km timed stage from Antofagasta to Iquique on the shores of the Pacific with main rival Giniel de Villiers, the South African 2009 champion, second in a Toyota.
It was de Villiers’ fifth podium finish this week while 2014 champion Nani Roma, also in a Mini, was third. However Roma’s hopes of hanging on to his title had already been shattered by losing six and a half hours on Saturday’s opening stage.
In the overall standings, Al-Attiyah stretched his lead by 37 seconds over de Villiers to more than 21 minutes.
Saudi Arabian rookie Yazeed Alrajhi, in a Toyota, was seventh on the stage, more than eight minutes off the pace and is almost half an hour behind Al-Attiyah in overall standings. He remains in third spot.
Stephane Peterhansel, the best-placed Peugeot driver after the retirement of 2010 champion Carlos Sainz, finished half an hour behind Al-Attiyah to stand at close to two hours off the lead.
Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues, on a Honda, won the motorcycling stage while Spain’s Joan Barreda stayed in charge of the overall title race.
It was Rodrigues’ first win on the 2015 race, finishing in three hours 40 min 10 sec.
Barreda finished sixth on his Honda, more than seven minutes behind Rodrigues, but still extended his overall lead over defending champion Marc Coma, who was eighth on his KTM, to 12 min 27 sec.