Nasser Al-Attiyah tightened his grip on the 2015 Dakar Rally by extending his lead to 23 minutes on stage nine, which was won by his X-raid Mini team-mate Nani Roma.
While 2014 Dakar winner Roma – whose ’15 event had been ruined by an oil pump problem on the very first stage – took his first fastest time of this year’s event by six minutes, second-fastest Al-Attiyah benefited from problems for his main rival Giniel de Villiers to move into a commanding overall position.
Imperial Toyota driver de Villiers blamed what he called a “terrible navigational mistake” as he lost 21 minutes to stage winner Roma and 15 to Al-Attiyah on the run from Iquique to Calama.
But de Villiers remains comfortable in second overall, helped by third-placed Yazeed Al-Rajhi running into brake problems halfway through the stage and losing a lot of time himself. He remains third overall.
Peugeot’s tough Dakar return continued as its lead runner Stephane Peterhansel had to stop on the stage and wait for technical help from the team’s assistance truck, dropping him from eighth to 14th overall.
LEADING STAGE NINE TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nani Roma | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 4h41m56.s |
| 2 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Qatar Rally Team | Mini/BMW | 6m27.s |
| 3 | Guerlain Chicherit | Buggy All Terrain Team | Buggy/Chevrolet | 14m09.s |
| 4 | Vladimir Vasilyev | Vasilyev Racing Team | Mini/BMW | 15m52.s |
| 5 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 21m58.s |
| 6 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Yazeed Racing | Toyota | 27m16.s |
| 7 | Krzysztof Holowczyc | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 29m30.s |
| 8 | Orlando Terranova | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 30m34.s |
| 9 | Robby Gordon | Speed Energy Racing | HST/Chevrolet | 35m59.s |
| 10 | Erik van Loon | Xdakar | Mini/BMW | 42m22.s |
LEADING OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER STAGE NINE:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Qatar Rally Team | Mini/BMW | – |
| 2 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 23m58.s |
| 3 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Yazeed Racing | Toyota | 39m29.s |
| 4 | Krzysztof Holowczyc | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 1h17m41.s |
| 5 | Erik van Loon | Xdakar | Mini/BMW | 2h01m46.s |
| 6 | Christian Lavieille | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 2h51m39.s |
| 7 | Carlos Sousa | Mitsubishi Petrobras | Mitsubishi | 2h53m35.s |
| 8 | Vladimir Vasilyev | Vasilyev Racing Team | Mini/BMW | 3h02m41.s |
| 9 | Aidyn Rakhimbayev | Mini/BMW | 3h41m24.s | |
| 10 | Ronan Chabot | Toys Motors – SMG | SMG/GM | 4h00m00.s |
