January 8, 2016 – Stephane Peterhansel won Friday’s sixth stage of the Dakar Rally to take the lead of the event from Peugeot teammate Sebastian Loeb.
It was Peterhansel’s second win of the rally, keeping Peugeot’s perfect record of wins in proper stages so far this year.
Loeb reached the finish over eight minutes behind Peterhansel, losing the overall lead in the process.
At the finish, the 11-time Dakar winner took victory with a time of 5h01m07s, beating Sainz by just 17 seconds. Toyota’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi wound up third after a strong day, 7m19s adrift.
With his victory, Peterhansel leads the event by 27 seconds from Loeb, with Sainz in third, 5m55s behind.
Reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah was unable to match the pace of the Peugeots once again, finishing the day in fifth, nearly nine minutes slower than Peterhansel in the quickest Mini.
Overall standings after Stage 6:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 302 | Stephane Peterhansel | Peugeot | 18h26m20s |
| 2 | 314 | Sebastien Loeb | Peugeot | 27s |
| 3 | 303 | Carlos Sainz | Peugeot | 5m55s |
| 4 | 300 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Mini | 15m19s |
| 5 | 301 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota | 29m21s |
| 6 | 315 | Mikko Hirvonen | Mini | 29m51s |
| 7 | 319 | Leeroy Poulter | Toyota | 34m27s |
| 8 | 305 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota | 37m14s |
| 9 | 307 | Vladimir Vasilyev | Toyota | 42m27s |
| 10 | 317 | Emiliano Spataro | Renault | 57m32s |
