Johannesburg – SA driver Giniel de Villiers and his German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz gained three minutes on race leader Nasser Al-Attiya on the7th stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally on Saturday.
De Villiers finished the stage in the sixth fastest time of three hours, 38.08 (3:38.08) with Mini driver Al-Attiya taking seventh place on the day.
“We managed to catch Nasser after roughly 150km and then he made a mistake and we overtook him,” De Villiers told Dakar.com after the stage.
“We then opened the way and we made three or four mistakes, but we got back on track before he caught up with us. It was good, and we took three minutes back from Nasser.
“Anything can happen. There are still loads of racing left, including difficult stages after the rest day. Now, the closer we get, the more pressure he'll feel.”
The stage between Iquique (Chile) and Uyuni (Bolivia) belonged to Orlando Terranova of Argentina for his third victory of the 14-day rally.
Terranova finished ahead of Yazeed Alrajhi of Saudi Aurabia, who further cemented his hold on the third overall position.
Race leader Al-Attiya admitted he had suffered from altitude sickness and like De Villiers, battled with a headache.
“I had to stop three times to vomit and I had a terrible headache every time we went over a bump,” Al-Attiya said.
“I've lost some time, but it's no big deal. We don't need to push our limits.”
Toyota's other South African team of Leeroy Poulter and co-driver Robert Howie finished the stage in a creditable 11th place – 17 minutes behind the winner, to remain in 17th place on the overall standings.
South Africa’s Nissan Prodakar team of Johan van Staden and Mark Lawrenson posted the 39th fastest time on the day to retain their 30th place in the general classification.
In the quad section, South African rookie Dakar rider Willem Saaijman clocked the ninth fastest time of the stage.
The motorcycle and quad categories enjoyed a rest day and would be competing in the eight stage on Sunday.
The off-road endurance race, formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, moved to South America in 2009 and runs through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. The 14-day rally finishes in Buenos Aires on January 17. – Sapa