Ten-time Dakar Rally champion Stephane Peterhansel took a commanding lead in the car category after finishing second in Monday’s ninth stage, four minutes behind stage winner Nani Roma, as Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped out of contention for a second Dakar victory following continuous engine problems which brought him to a halt several times during the final 32 kilometers of the stage.
Peterhansel now has a comfortable lead of almost 50 minutes over his nearest rival South African Giniel de Villiers, with the Frenchman now looking set for an eleventh Dakar victory.
Al-Attiyah’s problems, which came three days after his team-mate Carlos Sainz was forced out of the event, moved Leonid Novitskiy in the second X-raid Mini into third, followed by Nani Roma into fourth.
Overall results after stage nine:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Stephane Peterhansel X-raid Mini 24h11m43s 2. Giniel de Villiers Imperial Toyota + 49m31s 3. Leonid Novitskiy X-raid Mini + 56m03s 4. Nani Roma X-raid Mini + 1h34m16s 5. Orlando Terranova X-raid BMW + 2h01m08s 6. Carlos Sousa Great Wall + 2h13m41s 7. Guerlain Chicherit SMG Buggy + 2h33m52s 8. Ronan Chabot SMG Buggy + 2h35m22s 9. Bernard Errandonea SMG Buggy + 2h35m40s 10. Pascal Thomasse MD Buggy + 3h02m32s