Summary Nasser al-Attiyah won the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally on Thursday.
AREQUIPA (AFP) - Two-time champion Nasser al-Attiyah extended his lead in the Dakar Rally on Thursday, winning the fourth stage between Arequipa and Tacna.
Qatari driver al-Attiyah, the 2011 and 2015 champion, had already won the first stage of this year s event on Monday behind the wheel of his Toyota.
On Thursday, he edged out 13-time champion Stephane Peterhansel, in a Mini, by 1min 52sec and Jakub Przygonski, also in a Mini, by 8min 49sec.
Overall, al-Attiyah leads by 8min 55sec ahead of the fifth stage between Tacna and Arequipa.
In the motorcycling race, America s Ricky Brabec took the stage and top spot in the overall standings on his Honda, finishing 6min 19sec ahead of Austria s Matthias Walkner and 7min 7sec in front of Australia s Toby Price.
Overall, the Californian enjoys a 2min 19sec advantage over previous leader Pablo Quintanilla of Chile while he has a 4min 22sec edge on Price.
Thursday s win for Brabec was particularly uplifting as as he had got lost on Wednesday s third stage.
"I needed it. Yesterday was tough on me and I lost a lot of time," he said.
"My body is still 100%, the bike is still 100%. We ll go back and do a quick review of the bike and then put it to sleep for the night."
Defending champion Walkner fears his race may be over after suffering a nasty fall on the stage.
"Fifty kilometres before the end I did a big jump and landed heavily. First I was thinking, ok, maybe it s broken. It s really painful now," said the Austrian.
