Dakar Rally (Day 4): VW takes the lead

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Results Stage 4

1. Sainz (E)/ Schulz (D) Volkswagen Touareg 3h 52m 48s 2. Magnaldi (F)/ Debron (F) Schlesser Buggy 3h 54m 48s 3. Alphand (F)/ Picard (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 3h 55m 58s 4. de Villiers (ZA)/ Thörner (S) Volkswagen Touareg 3h 56m 04s 5. Saby (F)/ Périn (F) Volkswagen Touareg 3h 57m 41s 6. Kleinschmidt (D)/ Pons (I) Volkswagen Touareg 3h 57m 56s 7. Al-Attiyah (QA)/ Guehennec (F) BMW X3 CC 3h 58m 19s 8. Schlesser (F)/ Borsotto (F) Schlesser Buggy 3h 58m 20s 9. Servias (E)/ Al Caraz (F) Schlesser Buggy 3h 59m 17s 10. Miller (USA)/ Van Zitzewitz (D) Volkswagen Touareg 4h 00m 29s

Standings after Stage 4

1. Sainz (E)/ Schulz (D) Volkswagen Touareg 9h 21m 18s 2. Saby (F)/ Périn (F) Volkswagen Touareg 9h 26m 09s 3. Kleinschmidt (D)/ Pons (I) Volkswagen Touareg 9h 26m 27s 4. Alphand (F)/ Picard (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 9h 27m 57s 5. de Villiers (ZA)/ Thörner (S) Volkswagen Touareg 9h 28m 11s 6. Schlesser (F)/ Borsotto (F) Schlesser Buggy 9h 30m 20s 7. Al-Attiyah (QA)/ Guehennec (F) BMW X3 CC 9h 30m 23s 8. Miller (USA)/ Van Zitzewitz (D) Volkswagen Touareg 9h 31m 21s 9. Roma (E)/ Magne (AND) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 9h 31m 42s 10. Magnaldi (F)/ Debron (F) Schlesser Buggy 9h 34m 42s

AFTER STAGE 3

Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team driver Joan ’Nani’ Roma and co-driver Henri Magne set the sixth fastest time in the first African stage of this year’s Dakar Rally between Nador and Er Rachidia in Morocco today, displacing Volkswagen’s Carlos Sainz from the lead after the multiple world rally champion got lost. Capping a successful day for the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team, Japan’s Hiroshi Masuoka and French co-driver Pascal Maimon set the second fastest time behind French stage winner Jean-Louis Schlesser in his self-constructed, Ford-engined machine. American Robbie Gordon in a Hummer is the only contender who has encroached on the Volkswagen/Mitsubishi duel and he currently holds eighth place

Third placed Frenchman Bruno Saby was eighth on today’s stage, but was not happy with his finish to the day which cost him the opportunity to lead the event when he had a tyre failure. "It goes without saying that I'm pleased to have improved by one position to third place. We lost time 40 kilometres before the finish because of tyre failure on the rear right. We had to overtake a lot of motorbikes on the edge of the track, where the danger of damaging a tyre increases.”

Volkswagen’s Carlos Sainz (E) finished the leg in twelfth place, dropping him to fourth position overall. "Today we noticed just what it means to be the first car into the stage,” he said. “There were no dust trails from a leading car to follow, so we had to plot our route alone. Unfortunately we also got lost. The absence of the GPS data is very apparent.”

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