Stephane Peterhansel regained the lead of the 2017 Dakar Rally lead by setting the fastest time on stage 10.
The Frenchman’s time was initially slower than rally leader Sébastien Loeb as he was involved in a collision with bike competitor Simon Marcic and assisted him until medical services could arrive.
However, rally rules adjust times for competitors who have stopped to aid fellow competitors.
Therefore the final result showed that Peterhansel had taken 7 minutes and 28 seconds out of Peugeot team-mate Loeb and establish a lead of 5 minutes and 50 seconds.
The Frenchman was initially slower on the stage than main rival Sébastien Loeb, but this was due to helping an injured competitor. His time was altered to reflect this. Credit: Marcelo Maragni/ Red Bull Content Pool.
Behind Loeb in third place was team-mate Cyril Despres who was 2 minutes and thirty three minutes slower, but continues to comfortably occupy the final podium position.
The quickest non-Peugeots was the Mini of Yazeed Al Rajhi who was 19 minutes down on Peterhansel but a minute ahead of Argentinian team-mate Orlando Terranova.
Both had a better stage than team leader Mikko Hirvonen.
The Finn had a nightmare stage, as he got lost twice, suffered two punctures and gearbox problems and collided with a truck breaking his radiator.
The Finn made it to the finish but lost nearly five hours and dropped from 5th to 15th in the standings.
Terranova is now the best of the Minis, he inherits sixth position behind the Toyotas of Giniel de Villiers and Nani Roma who is an hour behind Peterhansel.
On the Bikes, Sam Sunderland had a steady day setting the 12th fastest time but got a boost when his closest competitor withdrew due to illness.
Pablo Quintanilla was running second to Sunderland but was diagnosed with a head trauma and a loss of consciousness after a crash.
The Chilean’s exit means that the British rider’s lead is extended to half an hour over KTM team-mate Matthias Walkner with fellow KTM rider Gerard Farras Guell in third.
Joan Barreda won the stage and is now up to fifth overall in the standings after picking up an hour penalty earlier in the rally.
There was drama at the finish when Stefan Svitko collapsed due to exhaustion shortly after completing the stage just after setting the third fastest stage time.
Slovak rider Stefan Svitko secured third fastest time but collapsed shortly after the finish line due to exhaustion. Credit: Marcelo Maragni/ Red Bull Content Pool.
Happily for the Slovak rider, he was cleared to continue in the event.
In the Trucks category Kamaz’s Edouard Nikolaev leapfrogged past his team-mate and rally Dmitri Sotnikov to snatch the category lead.
The Russian set the fastest time on stage 10 overturning a 1 minute 46 second margin to lead Sotnikov by 5 minutes and 15 seconds, with Gerard de Rooy 23 minutes further back in third.
Kamaz trucker Edouard Nikolaev leapfrogged team-mate Dmitri Sotnikov to take the rally lead. Credit: Marcelo Maragni/ Red Bull Content Pool.
In the Quads, Sergey Karyakin was 10 minutes quicker than Chilean rival Ignacio Casale and extended his lead to 21 minutes.
The leading two were helped by problems for close competitors with Simon Vitse withdrawing due to mechanical problems and Axel Dutrie encountering similar difficulties which has now leaves him three hours off the lead.
In the UTV category Leandro Torres increased his lead to 2 hours 45 minutes over Russian rider Ravil Maganov.
Torres’ race to victory was helped when his closest challengers Chinese riders Li Dongsheng and Mao Ruijin withdrew from the event.
