San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina - Stephane Peterhansel kept afloat his bid for a 12th Dakar Rally crown, leading a Peugeot clean sweep in Wednesday's fourth stage around Jujuy in Argentina.
The marathon event's all-time most successful competitor held off team-mates Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb by 11sec and 27sec at the end of the 429km stage.
This was the veteran Frenchman's 66th stage win, a record tally split equally between cars and bikes.
The 50-year-old from Alsace made his Dakar debut in 1988, winning the first of his six overall victories on two wheels back in 1991 and taking his 11th victory behind the wheel of a Mini in 2013.
“It's the first Dakar special I win for Peugeot, it's nice,” said Peterhansel.
“We worked hard all year, but aren't too proud yet because we know we weren't able to carry out all the tests we wanted, and it's just the third day of racing.
“We had a good special, with no navigational mistakes and a high pace from the beginning. Our work is paying off.”
World rally legend Loeb, with two stage wins in the bag already on his promising Dakar debut, stayed at the top of the overall standings with Peterhansel in second, 4m48s adrift.
Defending Dakar champion, Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah (Mini) held third at 11m9s. Al-Attiyah, who won bronze in the men's skeet shooting event at the London 2012 Olympics, reflected after his fourth place on Stage 4: “It ain't easy.
“I did my best to attack, but you just can't keep up with the Peugeots.”
Dakar veteran Giniel de Villiers started the day in second overall in the leading Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux. He ran at a steady pace on Stage 4, but finished 8m34 behind the stage winner, dropping him to sixth overall.
Leeroy Poulter in the second works Hilux started Stage 4 with a small navigational error. He lost two minutes early on, but rallied to maintain his position, posting the seventh fastest time in the process, just 16 seconds behind Yazeed al Rajhi in the third Hilux - and moving up to fourth overall.
Mark Corbett in the leading South African-built Century Racing CR5 prototype buggy finished 31st on Stage 4 to move up two places to 32nd on the overall standings, while team-mate Colin Matthews came in 37th, retaining his 34th position overall.
Nissan Navara driver Sean Reitz, meanwhile, put in another strong drive to 48th on Stage 4, leapfrogging another 10 places on the overall standings to 59th; he was 88th after Stage 2.
MOTORCYCLES
Factory Honda rider Joan Barreda Bort missed out on a second consecutive Dakar Rally stage win on Wednesday.
Barreda crossed the line clear of his team-mate Paulo Goncalves only to be docked five minutes for speeding, handing the win to Goncalves.
The Portuguese Honda rider had covered Wednesday's 429km stage in 4hr7m19s, more than two-and-a-half minutes clear of compatriot Ruben Faria (Husqvarna), with Argentina's Kevin Benavides (Honda) third and the demoted Barreda now fourth.
“It was a good day,” said Goncalves. “Bringing the bike home in one piece was crucial.”
He also moved to the top of the overall standings, 2m17s ahead of Benavides, with Barreda now third, at 3min 3sec.
KTM riders Kobus Potgieter and Wessel Bosman finished Stage 4 109th and 115th respectively. Potgieter moved up four places to 110th overall, while Bosman gained three, to 120th.
For Team Rhide Yamaha quad lead rider Brian Baragwanath Stage 4 was a disaster as he straggled in 24th, 41m28s behind the leader, dropping from second to 16th overall in the process.
His team-mates, in contrast, did well, with George Twigge posting a Dakar best result of 14th to move up from 29th to 21st overall, while Ted Barbier finished the stage a somewhat disappointing 41st but still improved one place to 36th overall.
Stage 4 was a marathon stage, which meant the competitors would have to take on Stage 5 without the benefit of service in between.
Thursday's fifth stage of the marathon two-week rally is a 327km ride from Jujuy to Uyuni in Bolivia; the border crossing includes a steep increase in altitude to 4500 metres - the highest point on the 2016 Dakar Rally route.