French driver Stephane Peterhansel hung on to his lead in the Dakar 2004 rally despite being penalised five minutes after his teammate pushed his car near the end of the fifth stage on Monday.
Though Peterhansel believed the assistance from Andrea Mayer 300m from the finishing line was legal, race officials ruled that he had broken the rules.
The penalty, which only applies to the overall standings, cut Peterhansel’s lead in the rally to one minute and 12 seconds.
”We had a problem with the gear box at 80km,” he explained.
”We had to push the vehicle to the check point. It wasn’t easy because the road was going uphill. Andrea Mayer pushed us with her car. I hope it’s the first and last time.”
Mitsubishi driver Peterhansel had finished the 337km stage from Er Rachidia 4:35 ahead of Japanese teammate Hiroshi Masuoka, the winner of the car event for the past two years, with South African Giniel de Villiers third in a Nissan almost 13 minutes behind.
Masuoka was pleased with his drive, which kept him second overall.
”We went through all the situations the Dakar can offer — sand, wind, rocks. I went carefully and only drove at 50% of my limits. The result is due to the excellent car. I’ll try to have the same kind of special tomorrow.”
Scotland’s 1995 world rally champion, Colin McRae, came in sixth in his Nissan 14:17 behind 38-year-old Peterhansel, who holds a 6:12 overall lead on Masuoka with BMW’s Gregoire de Mevius of Belgium third at 15:33.
Spanish rider Isidre Esteve Pujol stretched his lead in the motorbike section when he timed three hours, 44 minutes and 27 seconds to come in 16 seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard Nani Roma, with Italy’s Fabrizio Meoni making it a KTM sweep when he came in 22 seconds behind the leader.
”I’m happy. It shows that everything is working well, especially because it was a very rocky stage with a lot of dust,” said the 31-year-old Esteve Pujol.
”It gives me confidence for the rally especially because I have a good experience of the Dakar. Navigation and the long stages in Mauritania don’t worry me,” added the Spaniard.
Defending champion Richard Sainct of France, who received stitches in his arm after an accident during the fourth stage, finished in eighth position, five minutes and 14 seconds behind Pujol, who holds a 36-second lead on two-time champion Meoni overall.
The rally remains in Morocco for Tuesday’s sixth and includes a 351km special between Ouarzazate and Tan Tan. — Sapa-AFP