Japan’s two-time defending champion Hiroshi Masuoka won the 15th stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday, a 579km marathon drive from Tidjikja.
The Mitusbishi driver finished in 6:52,35 to hold a nine minutes and 11 seconds margin over French teammate Stephane Peterhansel, who still has a 55 minutes and 53 seconds lead with two days to go.
South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers was third in the stage, 17minutes and 32 seconds behind the winner in a Nissan.
Italien Fabrizio Meoni won the motorbike stage beating Frenchman Richard Sainct by 46 seconds with Spain’s overall leader Nani Roma third more than three minutes behind.
While Sainct made some headway into Roma’s lead he still trails by seven minutes and seven seconds, while South Africa’s Alfie Cox is pushing hard to take third overall off France’s Cyril Despres who has a slender 43-second advantage over the veteran biker. — Sapa-AFP