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Sainz edges a step closer to Dakar glory

The double world rally champion finished third for Peugeot in the 281km 11th stage from Belen to the sands of Fiambala and Chilecito in Argentina.

Carlos Sainz

Bengaluru, January 18: Carlos Sainz stretched his Dakar Rally lead to more than an hour after organisers rescinded a 10-minute penalty imposed earlier in the week for an incident with a quadbike.

The double world rally champion finished third for Peugeot in the 281km 11th stage from Belen to the sands of Fiambala and Chilecito in Argentina which was won by Toyota Gazoo Racing SA's Dutch driver Bernhard ten Brinke.

Cyril Despres, in another Peugeot, finished second.

The third-place finhs left Sainz an hour and 45 seconds clear of French team-mate and defending champion Stephane Peterhansel, who finished fourth in the stage.

<strong>Peterhansel closes the gap with Sainz</strong>Peterhansel closes the gap with Sainz

"It was demanding and difficult. I've lost two rallies on this stage and had many problems, in 2009 I was leading and finished in a hole so I was happy to finish," said Sainz.

Earlier, Dutch rider Kees Koolen had claimed that Sainz had hit his machine on a previous stage and failed to stop, with the stewards penalising the Spaniard.

<strong>Sainz penalised</strong>Sainz penalised

Sainz had angrily denied any contact was made and Peugeot had backed him up.

"We appreciate the event stewards looking into this again and re-examining all the documents and other evidence at their disposal," Peugeot Sport head Bruno said.

"We supplied them with a certain amount of data, relating to the speed and movement of the car. They were able to compare that to the tracking and ascertain that Carlos's point of view was the correct one - of which we never had any doubt."

Thursday (January 18) sees Dakar convoy move onto it's penultimate bivouac as the competition moves to San Juan. It's a mammoth 523km against the clock with the navigation challenges as tough as ever in a tough rally which has already seen high-profile casualties like Sebastien Loeb and Andre Villas-Boas.

(With Red Bull Media and Agency inputs).

Story first published: Thursday, January 18, 2018, 10:30 [IST]
Other articles published on Jan 18, 2018