Peterhansel closes gap with Sainz after 10th stage win

Bengaluru, January 17: Defending champion Stephane Peterhansel won the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally in Argentina to close the gap with Peugeot team-mate Carlos Sainz.

The Frenchman's third stage win of the event moved him to second place, but he is still 50 minutes behind Sainz with four days remaining before the finish in Cordoba.

But the stage win helped the 13-time Dakar champion to move to second overall in the standings as Qatar's two-time winner Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah slipped to third in his Hilux for Toyota Gazoo Racing SA.

"It was a really long day again and we tried to push. We didn't make any mistakes, but we're a little bit tired," said Peterhansel.

The 11th stage on Wednesday (January 17) runs from Belen to Fiambala and Chilecito. Stage 11 itself is the Dakar route which has become affectionately known as 'Super Fiambalá' in recent years and Peterhansel was ready for it.

"It was a really important stage...not easy, and I think in Fiambala it'll be the same."

Sainz was still smarting from a 10 minute penalty applied for an alleged collision with Dutch quadbike rider Kees Koolen.

Peugeot have said they intend to appeal the sanction.

"At this moment everything is OK. The plan for tomorrow is to go nice and steady like we did today with no major issues," said Sainz.

There was a nice display of teamwork from Cyril Despres who waited for Sainz at the start of 10th stage.

Despres then stayed close to Sainz just in case his help was required during the 373 kilometres of timed special stage.

"Carlos was really fast at the end so we had to let him go after following him all day. On those big, dry rivers Carlos is really, really fast," said Despres.

Pre-rally favourite Al Attiyah suffered a mechanical problem in the stage which saw the Red Bull athlete losing precious time as he could manage only a 10th-place finish.

Wednesday marks the start of another marathon stage for competitors and plenty more twists can be expected from the 40th Dakar which has already seen high-profile retirements like Sebastien Loeb and Andre Villas-Boas.

(With Agency & Red Bull Media inputs).