Dakar Rally stage four
January 7, 2015
After crossing the Andes from Argentina with co-driver Matthieu Baumel (FRA), Al-Attiyah pulled clear over the final kilometers of Atacama desert dunes in a 315 kilometer (195.73 miles) timed stage from Chilecito to Copiapo.
In the overall classification in the car event, Al-Attiyah and Baumel (Mini All4) extended their lead over German-South African duo Dirk von Zitzewitz and Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) by almost three minutes to 8 minutes and 15 seconds. Another German, Timo Göttschalk, sits a further 15 minutes behind in third place as navigator to Yazeed Alrajhi of Saudi Arabia, also in a Toyota.
In the motorbike section, Spain's Joan Barreda also claimed his second stage win of this year’s rally after riding his Honda to victory ahead of defending champion and fellow Spaniard Marc Coma on a KTM. Chilean Pablo Quintanilla cheered the home fans with his third-placed finish.
Barreda now leads by 12 minutes and 49 seconds overall from Coma with Honda teammate Paulo Goncalves of Portugal back in third place, 20 minutes 29 seconds adrift of the leader.
The death of Polish motorbike competitor Michal Hernik on Tuesday has overshadowed the early stages of the grueling off-road race. The 39-year-old debutant was found dead 300 meters from the desert track during stage three with no apparent injury and no damage to his motorbike that would indicate a collision, according to race director Etienne Lavigne.
There was no helmet on Hernik when the body was found and the search for clues surrounding the incident was continuing on Wednesday.
In total, around 400 competitors began this year's rally, in cars, trucks, motorbikes and quad bikes. The race ends on January 17 in Buenos Aires.
pwh/al (afp, SID)