– The Frenchman moves into second place overall
– Problems for Carlos Sainz
Stéphane Peterhansel and David Castera (both FRA) climbed into second place in the overall standings, thanks to their second place on today’s stage in the MINI John Cooper Works Buggy. Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz bounced back from yesterday’s misfortune with a fine seventh place. Their team-mates Cyril Despres and Jean-Paul Cottret (both FRA) finished eighth.
Stage four of this year’s Dakar takes the competitors from Arequipa to Tacna, where the second half of this marathon stage awaits them, and the crews must survive the evening without their team.
Peterhansel and Castera were the first of the cars onto today’s route and were embroiled in a battle with Nasser Al-Attiyah for the stage win. The two Frenchmen finished second and are also second in the overall standings. “Today was just the first part of the marathon stage, so we had to look after the car. David and I are not really good mechanics, so we had to be a little more cautious,