Dakar 2010 - 4th stage
05.01.2010
Surprise at the first test in Chile. Hummer pilot Robby Gordon drove to victory on Tuesday with a hussar ride. After initially falling behind, the US boy suddenly had a second ahead of the rest of the field at the finish, to the amazement of the competition.
Behind the rear-wheel drive Hummer, Stephane Peterhansel in the BMW X3 all-wheel drive took second place. However, the front runner from the X-Raid team can easily cope with the narrow defeat. Gordon is already over an hour behind Peterhansel in eighth place and is probably out of the question for overall victory.
Peterhansel extends lead
What was more important for Peterhansel was that he was once again able to put the entire VW competition in their place. Nasser Al Attiyah was the best with 2:26 minutes behind the winner of the day. 'We made up time on Carlos Sainz again,' said the Arab happily. 'However, the day's victory would have been possible if we hadn't suffered a flat tire over the last 80 kilometers.'
Sainz is losing ground
The aforementioned Carlos Sainz, who is second in the overall standings behind Peterhansel as the best-placed VW, is still waiting for the first win of the day. The Spaniard lost more than three minutes to the top as fourth of the day. 'Peterhansel was very fast today. We have to be patient and try again tomorrow,' said 'El Matador' in the bivouac in the evening.
Mark Miller remains in last place in the top quartet. However, the American is already 40 minutes ahead of fifth-placed Nissan driver Alfie Cox. The South African and his German co-driver Jürgen Schröder were able to move up to fifth place overall on the challenging Andean crossing from Fiambalá to Copiapó. With the Pole Krystof Holowczyc, another Nissan driver is directly behind in sixth place.
Nani Roma has to give up
For the one who had an accident the day before BMW driver Nani Roma finished the Dakar on Tuesday. In the morning, the X-Raid team announced the Spaniard's withdrawal. 'I drove over a dune ridge and suddenly there was this large ledge. I couldn't brake anymore and rolled over,' said Roma of his mishap. He also injured his hand. 'But it has not broken,' Roma denied reports. 'The car was, thoughno longer repairable. 'Above all, the demolished roll bar was responsible for the task in the end.
