Two-time World Rally champion Carlos Sainz stretched his overall lead in the Dakar Rally with a second-place finish behind Stephane Peterhansel in Sunday’s eighth stage from Antofagasta to Copiapo in the Atacama desert.
Sainz leads Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar by 14 minutes, 35 seconds in the overall standings.
In motorbikes, Chilean rider Contardo Lopez won the stage, but Cyril Despres maintained a large overall lead by finishing fifth. Despres is 1:20:31 ahead of Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway.
The rally ends Saturday in Buenos Aires and Sainz and Despres are starting to look like …Â Details
The final stage before the halfway rest day on the Dakar Rally saw the longest single stage of the rally, at 600km. Competitors took on sand dunes, salt flats, and a 100km stretch of normal, boring highway as racing was neutralised to go round a natural reserve.
But despite the length of the stage it was arguably the quietest day of the rally. Perhaps drivers and riders simply aimed to …Â Details
Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres have extended their leads after the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally, a 600-kilometer (370-mile) leg through the Atacama Desert from Iquique to Antofagasta in northern Chile.
Sainz in a VW finished third in Friday’s stage, 4 minutes, 21 seconds behind winning teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah. Sainz leads Al-Attiayah by 11:03 overall …Â Details