Nasser Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel in the Qatar Rally Team Mini All4 Racing clinched their second stage win on the 2015 Dakar Rally, extending their overall lead. The stage began in the Andes in Chilecito, Argentina, running on challenging mountain roads before crossing into Chile. It ended in Copiaopo, Chile after a charge through high sand dunes on the final stretch.
Al-Attiyah said “The first section of today’s special stage was really fast and all the cars were racing at virtually the same speed. But then, the route got rocky and we backed off to not risk a puncture. Our plan worked and afterwards, in the dunes, we really went for it and won the stage, in the end.”
Orlando Terranova and Bernardo Graue in a Monster Energy Mini All4 Racing, who have also won two stages, had a difficult day four. They were the first on the road, but lost time after their car’s rear suspension was damaged when they hit a rock just after the first checkpoint.
Defending champions Nani Roma and Michael Périn in another Monster Energy Mini finished second on the stage, but they are still out of contention because of a setback on the first day when oil pump failure cost them over four hours.
Going into day five Al-Attiyah and Baumel had an eight minute lead over Giniel de Villiers and Dirk Von Zitzewitz in a Toyota Hilux.
Stage five of the thirteen stage rally will take competitors across the Atacama Desert on a 458 km run from Copiaopo to Antofagasta, Chile. NBC Sports is providing daily 30-minute recaps of Dakar action at 4:30 PM eastern on weekdays and 6:00 AM eastern on weekends.—Brian S. Morgan
