Defending champion Stephane Peterhansel boosted his chances of an 11th Dakar Rally title on Wednesday, extending his lead as the marathon endurance race crossed from Peru into Chile, reports bankokpost.com.
The French driver was second on the fifth stage, a 172km timed run from Arequipa to Arica, finishing 1min 23sec behind Mini teammate Nani Roma of Spain.
But Peterhansel saw his overnight lead increase from 5min 16sec to 9min 54sec over Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion, who finished seventh on the stage, six minutes behind Roma after getting lost on the testing desert track.
“It was tough and essential to find the right course,” said Peterhansel.
“Mind you, I had a good hare to follow with Nasser up ahead, who was making good tracks. All in all, it was a very pleasant special to drive, but sometimes it was quite rocky, so we were on the defensive.”
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