Al-Attiyah Takes Dominant Victory on Stage 10 of Dakar Rally

Salta, Argentina, January 15 (QNA) - Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah took a dominant victory on stage 10 of the 2015 Dakar Rally, as X-raid Mini team-mate Nani Roma spectacularly crashed out. Al-Attiyah's fourth stage win of the event boosted his advantage to more than 28 minutes with main rival Giniel de Villiers dropping over four minutes with the fifth-fastest stage time. But while the run from Calama to Salta put a further dent in Imperial Toyota de Villiers' victory bid, it was absolutely disastrous for 2014 Dakar winner Roma. Roma's '15 event had already been ruined by an oil-pump problem on the first stage, but he had won his first stage of this year's edition on Tuesday before rolling several times 120 miles into the 534-mile run on the 10th day. He and his co-driver were reported unhurt. Al-Attiyah's nearest opposition came from Orlando Terranova, whose overall rally bid was thwarted on day four, with the third X-raid driver coming through 1m28s slower than his team-mate. Despite de Villiers' having a muted run to fifth the South African remains second overall, almost 15 minutes clear of fellow Toyota driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who was third-fastest on stage 10. Peugeot's difficult Dakar improved slightly, with Stephane Peterhansel ninth quickest, but he remains 14th on the leaderboard. (QNA)