Sainz began the yesterday stage with a clear goal at restoring his overall lead in the standings, after it had been cut down to half by Qatari at the San Juan finish line. However, as hard as he pushed for a bigger gap ahead of Al-Attiyah, his rival was pretty quick too, limiting the time deficit to only 52 seconds at San Rafael.
The two Volkswagen drivers drove practically in a league of their own on Thursday, as the third place finisher, teammate Mark Miller, arrived at the end of the stage almost 4 and a half minutes late. The podium was practically a mirror of what's going on in the overall classification, where Sainz leads from Al-Attiyah and Miller.
Stephane Peterhansel made the finish line 10 minutes after Sainz and, thanks to his BMW teammate Guerlain Chicherit's suspension problems yesterday, secured 4th place overall in the rally. He is now one hour and 40 minutes ahead of Chicherit, with 2 stages to go.
In the overall classification, Sainz' advantage over Al-Attiyah has extended to 5 minutes and 20 seconds, while Mark Miller sits on a distant 3rd position, almost half-an-hour behind. Frenchman Peterhansel completed the quad of aces in this year's Dakar, resting more than 2 hours and 20 minutes behind Sainz in 4th place.
“It was a bit quick, not dangerous but tricky. I didn’t have any problems. Everything’s fine,” said Sainz after the stage.
“It was quick with some unbelievable parts. Sometimes the car was on 4 wheels, sometimes on 3, sometimes even 2. In some places the track was steeper than I have ever seen, almost vertical! I didn’t lose much time, so it’s been a good day. I feel good about tomorrow, even great...” added Al-Attiyah.
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