January 8, 2015 – MINI’s dominance in the 2015 edition of the Dakar Rally continued into the fifth special stage as Vladimir Vasilyev secured his first victory today, beating the highly impressive debutant Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) by only 20 seconds in the 458-km special.
Despite finishing fourth today, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah remains in a comfortable lead in the general standings, more than 10 minutes clear of Toyota’s Giniel de Villiers, who’s in turn 10 minutes ahead of third-placed Al-Rajhi.
WRC champion Carlos Sainz retired from the Dakar 2015 after crashing his Peugeot 2008 DKR 20 kilometers from the the finish.
Second on the last two stages, Marc Coma has finally accomplished his first victory in the Dakar 2015 at the finish near Antofagasta, Chile. The KTM rider has regained two minutes on the Bikes category leader, Honda’s Joan Barreda, in the general standings on completion of the stage today.
Click here for the Stage 5 results and here for the general standings so far.