Defending champion Nani Roma scored a consolation victory in the Dakar Rally ninth stage on Tuesday as Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah increased his overall lead after “a terrible mistake” by main rival Giniel de Villiers.
Spain’s Roma — whose hopes of a second straight overall win evaporated on the first stage due to electrical failure — completed the 538km drive from the Chilean Pacific coastal city of Iquique to Calama in the Andes 6 minutes, 30 seconds clear of al-Attiyah.
The 2011 Dakar winner’s bold showing bolstered his bid for a second title.
Mini thought they had sealed a 1-2-3 in the stage, but their hopes were dashed late on in the day as Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit, who started the stage in a lowly 70th spot, recorded a superb time to snatch third in a Buggy. Al-Attiyah has a near 24-minute cushion over Toyota’s South African driver De Villiers, who was kicking himself after losing his way and taking fourth.
De Villiers blamed “a terrible, terrible navigation mistake” on his unwanted driveabout in the Chilean countryside.
“That’s cost us the race,” he said. “You know, sometimes it goes like this in the Dakar and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
With four days to come before Saturday’s finish in Buenos Aires al-Attiyah can now start to realistically contemplate his second title.
“It was not easy, but, OK, I think we made a good job of it and I hope it will be enough to win the Dakar,” said the driver, who has represented Qatar in shooting at the Olympics. “I think we did a good job and to finish here in front of Giniel is the key.”
In third in the drivers’ standings comes Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi in another Toyota, 40 minutes behind al-Attiyah.
Mini’s domination of Tuesday’s podium was completed by Russian Vladimir Vasilyev.
In the bikes section, Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues claimed his second stage win of the year as Marc Coma of Spain had his overall lead cut by three minutes.
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