Nasser Al-Attiyah won his first stage of the 2014 Dakar rally as overall leader Nani Roma lost time to nearest rival Stephane Peterhansel on stage eight.
Al-Attiyah, winner of the 2011 endurance event, completed the relatively straightforward 302km run from Salta to Calama – which involved crossing from Argentina into Chile – 1m12s faster than a chasing pack led by 11-time winner Peterhansel.
Roma meanwhile finished more than eight minutes down the road after suffering two punctures on the stage. His lead over Peterhansel was therefore slashed to just over 23 minutes.
Despite going quickest in the motorcycles class, Cyril Despres remains ninth overall, while Marc Coma maintains the lead as he went second quickest. Joan Barreda Bort is Coma’s closest pursuer, trailing his rival by 38 minutes from second place overall.