RALLYING – Toyota’s Henk Lategan retained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally yesterday after American Mitch Guthrie Jr led a fifth stage one-two-three for Ford in the Saudi Arabian desert.
South African Lategan, last year’s overall runner-up, was 17th in the 371km stage from the Al-Ula bivouac to Hail with Qatari rival Nasser Al-Attiyah 16th for Dacia to close the gap to three minutes and 17 seconds.
Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom remained third for Ford, five minutes and 38 seconds off the lead.
The stage win was Guthrie’s second of the event after Tuesday’s success, making him the first driver to win more than once this year, and came after he finished four seconds behind teammate Nani Roma.
In the motorcycle category, Argentine rider Luciano Benavides won the 356km stage on a KTM and moved up to third overall with defending champion and teammate Daniel Sanders finishing third to retake the lead from American Ricky Brabec.
&uuid=(email))