HARADH, Saudi Arabia – Stephane Peterhansel earned his third Dakar Rally stage win of the year on Tuesday, but it was Nasser Al-Attiyah who made up the most ground.
Peterhansel bested Al-Attiyah by 15 seconds at the conclusion of Tuesday’s 476 kilometer stage. However, thanks to a problem that cost overall race leader Carlos Sainz five minutes early in the stage, Al-Attiyah is now just 24 seconds behind Sainz in the battle for the overall lead.
Peterhansel remains in the hunt as well, a little more than six minutes behind Sainz. Three days remain for competitors to make up ground in the battle for the Dakar Rally victory, with the event set to conclude on Friday in Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia.
Pablo Quintanilla took top honors in the bike category, leading Toby Price to the completion of the stage by nearly two minutes. American Ricky Brabec continues to lead the class overall with more than 20 minutes in hand over Quintanilla.
The truck class continued to be dominated by Andrey Karginov, who won his fourth-straight stage in his Kamaz to further extend his lead to more than 38 minutes in the Truck class standings.
Americans Blade Hildebrand, Mitch Guthrie and Casey Currie swept the top-three positions in the SxS class on Tuesday, with Currie remaining the division leader by more than 23 minutes. Hildebrand and Guthrie are both running under the Dakar Experience ruleset and, thus, are no longer eligible to win the event.
The quad class was won by Ignacio Casale, who edged Giovanni Enrico by a scant three seconds to earn the stage win. He now leads the quad division by nearly 45 minutes over his closest pursuer.