Nani Roma retook the lead of the Dakar rally after a commanding victory in stage five, on a day marked by the problems encountered by the top drivers.
Roma, who had moved into the lead of the event after a dramatic stage on Tuesday, emerged on top again in what was the longest day of the rally.
The timed portion, however, was shortened due to safety reasons, and the staged ended in the first control point of the second section.
X-raid Mini driver Roma finished in four hours and 27 minutes, returning to first place in the standings after losing it to compatriot Carlos Sainz on Wednesday.
The former World Rally champion had a day to forget and lost over an hour to Roma.
Sainz made navigational errors and had electric problems in his buggy in the first section of the stage, dropping down to sixth position in the overall standings.
Roma’s other main rivals also lost a lot of time today.
Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped over 21 minutes, while Stephane Peterhansel finished over 23 behind the Spaniard. Local Orlando Terranova also lost 20 minutes.
Former Dakar winner Giniel de Villers was second in today’s stage, 4m20s behind Roma, while American Robby Gordon completed the top three in his Hummer.
Roma now leads from Al-Attiyah, with Terranova in third, Peterhansel fourth and de Villers completing the top five.
Leading stage five times: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Nani Roma X-raid Mini 4h27m01s 2. Giniel de Villiers Imperial Toyota +04m20s 3. Robby Gordon Hummer +20m12s 4. Orlando Terranova X-raid Mini +20m44s 5. Nasser Al-Attiyah X-raid Mini +21m38s 6. Stephane Peterhansel X-raid Mini +23m55s 7. Lucio Alvarez Ranger Ford +25m45s 8. Adam Malysz Overdrive Toyota +27m18s 9. Darek Dabrowski Overdrive Toyota +29m20s 10. Erik Van Loon XDakar Ford +39m19s Leading overall positions after stage five: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Nani Roma X-raid Mini 19h21m54s 2. Nasser Al-Attiyah X-raid Mini +26m28s 3. Orlando Terranova X-raid Mini +31m46s 4. Stephane Peterhansel X-raid Mini +39m59s 5. Giniel de Villiers Imperial Toyota +41m24s 6. Carlos Sainz SMG Buggy +59m43s 7. Christian Lavieille Haval +1h41m50s 8. Federico Villagra X-raid Mini +1h42m42s 9. Darek Dabrowski Overdrive Toyota +1h45m58s 10. Pascal Thomasse MD Buggy +2h12m10s
