Al-Attiyah Wins Second Successive Dakar Rally Stage

Nazca, Peru, January 09 (QNA) - Qatari ace Nasser al-Attiyah won his second successive stage in this year's Dakar Rally as he triumphed in the fourth stage to give himself a great chance of adding to his triumph in the 2011 edition. Al-Attiyah, who made it four stage wins from four for his Red Bull Buggy team, closed the gap on the overall leader, France's Mini-driving 10-time champion Stephane Peterhansel. Guerlain Chicherit took second in the stage, 36sec behind, while Peterhansel, 47, who has won the race six times on a motorbike and four times in the car discipline, came in over a minute behind the Qatari and saw his lead clipped to 5min 16sec. "In the dunes at the start, it was very difficult to open the way, but in the end we are here without any problem at all and a good time as well so we are happy," said Al-Attiyah, who last year showed his all round sporting skills by winning Olympic bronze in the shooting competition. The motorbike section saw a change of hands in terms of the overall lead as Frenchman Olivier Pain took over from compatriot and four-time winner Cyril Despres. The stage honours went to Spanish rider Joan Barreda Bort on a Husqvarna, who recorded his second stage win of this year's race in beating Pain by 8min 23sec while another Frenchman David Casteu was third. Pain leads Casteu in the overall standings by 2min 24sec with defending champion Despres, dropping to third 3min 09sec adrift. Pain, whose best finish in six previous editions has been two ninth places including last year, was not getting ahead of himself with regard to winning the race outright. (QNA)