Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken the overall lead with a win in the second stage of the Dakar Rally in Argentina. A day earlier Al-Attiyah had also been the fastest but then received a two minute penalty for driving too fast in the marshalling area.
The X-Raid-Mini driver - who also won a bronze medal in skeet shooting at the London 2012 Olympics - was more than eight minutes faster than the competition, over the 518 kilometer course (321.87 miles) between Villa Carlos Paz and San Juan.
South African driver Giniel de Villiers, together with his German co-pilot Dirk von Zitzewitz, were the second fastest on the day in their Toyota. They are also now second in the overall points tally some 7 minutes and 42 seconds behind the Al-Attiyah. Third placed is Bernhard Ten Brinke and Tom Colsoul also in a Toyota vehicle. The Mini pair of Orlando Terranova and Bernardo Graue have now slipped out of the top three.
In total some 400 competitors are entered in this year's Dakar Rally, in cars, trucks, motorbikes and quad bikes. The 36th edition of the race is around 9000 kilometers long and takes in parts of Chile and Bolivia too. The rally ends on January 17 in Buenos Aires.
al (dpa, SID)