Copiapo, Chile - Former champion Nasser Al-Attiyah mounted a late charge to extend his Dakar Rally lead on Wednesday as the gruelling 9000km event climbed the Andes and then crossed Chile's Atacama desert.
Al-Attiyah, the 2011 winner, finished 2m40s ahead of Mini team-mate Nani Roma, the defending champion, whose hopes had disappeared on a disastrous opening stage on Sunday when he lost eight hours.
In third place on Wednesday's fourth stage was South Africa's 2009 winner Giniel De Villiers in a works Toyota Hilux - despite having to open most of the route after the demise of Orlando Terranova. The Argentine driver, who won Stage 3 on Tuesday, fell out of contention after contact with a rock took out the rear suspension of his Mini.
De Villiers was 2m57s behind Al-Attiyah as he claimed a fourth consecutive stage podium finish to retain second position in the overall title chase, more than eight minutes behind his Qatari rival.
Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Alrajhi, also in a Toyota, was fourth on Wednesday’s 315km timed stage to sit third overall, 23m33s behind Al-Attiyah.
“The man to beat is Giniel,” said Al-Attiyah after giving Mini, which swept the podium in 2014, its fourth stage win out of four so far.
“He is always a threat on the Dakar, always amongst the top places. We had a three-minute advantage on him. I need to keep going like this, be careful but also attack from time to time.”
De Villiers’ works Toyota team-mate Leeroy Poulter had his best day so far on the 2015 Dakar, finishing Stage 4 ninth, only 17m17s behind the leader, and moving back up from 21st to 14th overall - which is where he was after Stage 1.
"For us it was a great stage," said Poulter after completing the 315 km-long special. "We were fastest through the first couple of checkpoints, but then the big dunes started. We got stuck twice near the end, but still managed the ninth fastest time on the day."
It was a day of recovery for Poulter after he lost nearly an hour on Stage 3, as he called on his so-called 'joker', which allows him to improve his start time once during the rally. As such he pulled away 19th on the road, despite recording only the 40th-fastest time on Stage 3. This allowed him to work his way through the field, reclaiming nine positions in the process.
Peugeot, returning to the race after a 25-year absence, endured another disappointing day with 11-times champion Stephane Peterhansel finishing fifth, after looking set for a stage win until the closing kilometres.
He was 10th overall after four stages but Carlos Sainz, the 2010 champion, suffered a series of technical setbacks at the 30km mark and was still to finish the stage after needing assistance from support vehicles.
Johan van Staden in the lone South African Nissan Navara came in 43rd, 1hr14m51s adrift, for the day – but still improved his overall position from 37th to 34th.
MOTORCYCLES
Spanish rider Joan Barreda Bort took his second stage win of this year's race, bringing his Honda home ahead of defending champion Marc Coma on a KTM with Chile's Pablo Quintanilla, also on a KTM, third.
In the overall standings, Barreda Bort led by 12m49s from Coma with Honda team-mate Paulo Goncalves of Portugal back in third place, 20m29s off the lead.
“The first part of the stage was a very fast but complicated track, Said Barreda Bort. “Marc was ahead and it was very difficult to catch up with him. I stayed focused and motivated. I caught up with him towards kilomotre 100 and eased into a solid pace.
“We tackled dunes and navigation was difficult. We're in control. The next few days will be extremely tough. Actually, there's a big chunk of Dakar left and we know there are tricky situations ahead.”
Honda's Laia Sanz was eighth on Wednesday to be the best-placed female rider and moved into 12th overall.
Leading South African rider Riaan van Niekerk finished the stage 16th e, more than 50 minutes behind the leaders, but held on to 15th overall, while fellow KTM rider Albert Hintenaus came in 4hr27 adrift, 64th for the day – and still made up two places overall, moving up from 69th to 67th.
Dakar rookie Wessel Bosman continued to battle; with only four hours to go to the start of Stage 5, he’d not yet finished Stage 4.
The motorcycle stage was held as race organisers hunted for clues to the cause of the death of Michal Hernik.
The 39-year-old Polish rider's body was found 300 metres from the desert course with no apparent injury on Tuesday and no damage to his motorcycle that would indicate an accident, according to race director Etienne Lavigne.
Lavigne added that there was no helmet on Hernik when the body was found.
Organisers sent a helicopter to look for Hernik after he failed to arrive at the finish line of Tuesday's stage between the Argentinian towns of Villa Carlos Paz and Chilecito. His satellite tracker had stopped sending signals.
His was the fifth death since the rally was moved to South America in 2009 over security concerns in the Sahara region and the 24th since the race was created in 1979.
AFP