Nasser Al-Attiyah extended his lead of the 2015 Dakar Rally with the fastest time on day four, as Orlando Terranova hit trouble and Peugeot’s Carlos Sainz was also delayed.
The run from Chilecito to Copiado was Al-Attiyah’s second win from four stages, though he was not quickest for the majority of the route and had to dig deep at the end to take top spot from last year’s winner Nani Roma.
Roma was already long out of contention before the fourth day ended, following the oil pump failure that struck his Mini at the very start of the rally, but he was less than three minutes slower than X-raid Mini team-mate Al-Attiyah as he bids to rise up the order from 55th.
While Roma’s fortunes improved, it was a disastrous stage for the third X-raid car of Terranova and the 2008 DKR of Sainz.
Terranova, quickest on day three, was third in the order at the start of the day but was forced to stop less than a quarter of the way into the 196-mile stage after damaging his rear suspension on a rock.
He was still working on his Mini when Sainz ran into turbo problems and was forced to seek assistance from his support vehicle.
Though Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) remains second overall – more than eight minutes behind Al-Attiyah – after going third-fastest on day four, Dakar debutant Yazeed Al-Rajhi leapfrogged the stricken Terranova and Sainz to go third, more than 23 minutes behind the leader, with the fourth-fastest time.
Peugeot’s second car fared much better in the hands of Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel, whose fifth-best time of the day brought him up from 16th to 12th overall – 1h18m37s behind Al-Attiyah.
Peterhansel had been in contention for the stage win until a heavy landing after a jump gave him a puncture.
Bernhard Ten Brinke was only 32s slower than Peterhansel on the latest route, and that performance helped him make a big leap up the leaderboard, with the Toyota man jumping from eighth to fourth.
The Minis of Krzysztof Holowczyc and Erik Van Loon complete the Dakar’s top six despite unspectacular efforts on the fourth day.
