Dakar 2011: Leg 5

End of SS5: Calama-Iquique Cars/Trucks: 423Kms Bikes/Quads 423Kms

Carlos Sainz continues to lead the 2011 Dakar Rally, but has had his lead reduced after today’s test. Stéphane Peterhansel stormed to his first stage win of this year’s Dakar Rally after beating Nasser Al-Attiyah by 1 min 24 secs over the 423Km stage. Carlos Sainz finished third, his worst showing of the rally so far. Spaniard Sainz was 3 mins 15 secs behind Peterhansel.

“It was a stage with lots of surprises. We started with the bit between our teeth. We managed to overtake Al Attiyah and Sainz by taking advantage of a navigation error they made. After that, it was our turn to make a mistake and get a flat tyre. They overtook again, but we managed to pass them at the end” Peterhansel said.

The stage today was one of the longer stages of the rally, all crews having to face 423Kms of mixed terrain. First up were some rather rough tracks, then a run through the salt plains, then an uphill run (which covered more than 100Kms) and finally, a steep run down towards the coast town of Iquique. The gradient of the slope down to Iquique was 32%.

Peterhansel took his first success of this year’s Dakar Rally. He showed his talent in the desert, driving with supreme skill to win the stage by 1 min 24 secs over Al-Attiyah. Sainz retains his lead in the rally overall, but as the stages become more desert-based, Peterhansel and six-times Middle East Rally Champion Al-Attiyah could reduce the gap to Sainz. The Spaniard, however, has desert-winning experience, having won the Safari Rally in 1992.

“At the finish, we put in a good time”, Peterhansel said. “It could have been better, though. At one point, I had regained 4 minutes on Carlos. In the end, our performance was okay. The first three places in the general standings are separated by three minutes. That’s good. I hope it stays like that until the rest day, that way we’ll have a thrilling end to the race. Everything is still possible for us”.

In the overall table, Peterhansel jumps Al-Attiyah into second. De Villiers, Holowczyk and Terranova are still fourth, fifth and sixth. Mark Miller made a big jump from tenth to seventh with a time good enough for fifth fastest on the stage. Miller is now 27 mins behind sixth placed Terranova.

Guerlain Chicherit is now in 11^th after setting 10^th quickest on today’s stage. The MINI driver, however, did not have a trouble-free stage. He crashed off the road, but help came in the form of BMW driver Krzysztof Holowczyc, who attempted to pull the MINI back onto the road, but the attempt was in vain as the Pole’s tow rope broke. Chicherit then rejoined the stage after Holowczyc left and posted the 10^th quickest time of the stage.

“Guerlain Chicherit went off the track so we just tried to help him.” Holowczyc said. “We tried to pull him out but his car is really heavy and now our rope is broken. So we left and I don’t know if we went through all the stage with the rope trailing behind us. We drove pretty well. The stage was clear of problems, apart from at the end for the last 30 kilometres when we missed the route and tried to find our way. We got stuck for a minimum of 10 minutes, which meant we lost everything at the end of the stage”.

In the truck category, Vladimir Chagin must have been celebrating his birthday too hard last night at the bivouac, because he inexplicably lost over 22 mins on the stage and the overall lead. The Kabirov/Belyaev/Mokeev team now lead by 13 mins 36 secs. Still third overall are the Loprais/Holan/Kalina team in their Tatra, they sit 25 mins off the lead.

Marc Coma still leads the bikes, but suffered a nasty crash 80 Kms into the stage. He then stopped at 91 Kms to repair his Yamaha, losing 10 mins in the process. Paulo Goncalves took the stage win by 2 mins 18 secs over Francisco Lopez Contardo, with Frans Verhoeven a further 2 mins 19 secs behind Goncalves on the stage. Despres is still second, unable to capitalise on Coma’s misfortunes. The Frenchman is still over 10 mins off the lead. The main story on the bikes today was Oliver Pain, who crashed his Yamaha at the 231Km mark, breaking his wrist in the process. He was airlifted by the medical helicopter, so his rally looks to be over.

Alejandro Patronelli now leads the quads, with Tomas Maffei in second, 1 min 27 secs off the lead. Maffei also earned himself a minute penalty during the stage. Third overall is still Sebastian Halpern, but he is now 42 mins off the lead. Yamaha have lost their grip of the Top 6, after Christophe Declerck moved into sixth, after Josef Machacek was given 4 mins 11 secs in penalties.