Chilecito: Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah extended his lead of the 2015 Dakar Rally with the fastest time on day four, as Orlando Terranova hit trouble and Peugeot’s Carlos Sainz was also delayed.
The run from the Chilecito to Copiado stage was Al Attiyah’s second win from four, though he was not the quickest for the majority of the route and had to dig deep at the end to take the top spot from last year’s winner Nani Roma.
Roma was already long out of contention before the fourth day ended, following the oil pump failure that struck his Mini at the very start of the rally. But he was less than three minutes slower than X-raid Mini team-mate Al Attiyah as he bids to rise up the order from 55th.
While Roma’s fortunes improved, it was a disastrous stage for the third X-raid car of Terranova and the 2008 DKR of Sainz. Terranova, quickest on day three, was third in the order at the start of the day but was forced to stop less than a quarter of the way into the 196-mile stage with a mechanical problem. He was still working on his Mini when Sainz ran into his own technical issue and was forced to seek assistance from his support vehicle.
Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) remains second overall — eight minutes behind Al Attiyah — after going third-fastest on day four and Dakar debutant Yazeed Al Rajhi has leapfrogged Terranova and Sainz to go third, more than 23 minutes behind the leader, with the fourth-fastest time. QNA
