Salta, Argentina: Nasser Al Attiyah of Qatar won his fourth stage in the Dakar Rally in Argentina on Wednesday, the ninth win in 10 days for Mini, as he closed in on a second title.
In the motorcycle division, Joan Barreda of Spain rode his Honda to a third stage win, with defending champion Marc Coma extending his overall lead to nearly eight minutes with three days to go.
After crossing the Andes from Calama to Chile, the mammoth 859km stage, 371km timed to Salta, saw Al Attiyah extend his overall lead to more than 28 minutes on South African Giniel de Villiers, the 2009 race winner, in a Toyota.
“It wasn’t an easy day and I think the last few days must have seen a lot of rain, which deepened the holes on the course,” said Al Attiyah, who won an Olympic bronze medal in skeet shooting at the 2012 London Games.
“That’s what made Nani’s [Roma] car turn over, but he’s fine. We’re here and I’m rather happy because I think we clocked a good time, we’re doing our job every day and the rest isn’t my problem.
“We need to get to the finish but I’m happy with how things are going, we’ve been leading the rally since the start in Buenos Aires.
“It’s not that easy, but the team’s done a great job, just like [co-driver] Mathieu [Baumel], the only mishap we’ve had is the day we lost a wheel.” added the 44-year-old, who also won the race in 2011.
Spaniard Roma, the defending champion and winner of the ninth stage on Tuesday, was close to abandoning after seriously damaging his Mini at the 193km mark.
