Antofagasta, Chile: Russian driver Vladimir Vasilyev maintained defending champions Mini’s monopoly of the Dakar Rally on Thursday, the manufacturer making it five stage wins in five on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Vasilyev clinched the 458km run from Chile’s Atacama desert, the driest place on earth, to the coastal stop of Antofagasta with the Toyota of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Alrajhi second on the stage to remain third in the overall standings.
The Hummer of American driver Robbie Gordon was third on the day.
Mini’s Qatari driver Nasser Al Attiyah, the 2011 champion and overall leader, was fourth on Thursday with 11-time champion Stephane Peterhansel in a Peugeot a place futher back.
For the first time in the 2015 race, South Africa’s 2009 champion Giniel de Villiers failed to finish on the podium. However, the Toyota driver remains second overall.
Four-time motorcycling winner and defending champion Marc Coma claimed his first stage victory of the 2015 edition, finishing the run to Antofagasta ahead of compatriot and overall leader Joan Barreda.
Just as he had done on the fourth stage on Wednesday, Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla took third spot.
KTM rider Coma took 2min 16sec out of Honda star Barreda’s overall lead.
But Barreda still boasts a lead of more than 10 minutes while Portugal’s Paulo Goncalves, also on a Honda, remains third in the standings after finishing fifth on the stage.
“It was a very tough stage. There was fesh-fesh all the time and in the fesh-fesh you cannot see the stones and it is not comfortable to ride,” said Coma in reference to the fine sand that can clog machines and obscure views.
“You are always having to pay attention. It’s going to be very difficult to take time from Joan, but, you know, we have a lot of racing in front of us. There’s the second part of the rally and we’ll have two marathon stages.
“We will try like hell until the last day. We know that Joan is very fast and that he has a very high level, but we will try, for sure.” Spain’s Laia Sanz, the leading female rider, was 20th on the stage to stand at 12th overall after losing 26 minutes.
In the race for the title on four wheels, 2010 champion Carlos Sainz was out of contention even before the fifth stage got under way. The Spaniard lost more than nine hours on a disastrous stage on Wednesday which crossed the Andes from Argentina into Chile.
The two-time world rally champion suffered mechanical failure on his Peugeot buggy as the French team, making its Dakar return after 25 years, endured another rollercoaster day. Sainz was forced to pull off the track and wait for his support truck to arrive to repair the fault.AFP
