Qatar's Al Attiyah Stays Second in Stage Four of Dakar Rally

Riyadh, January 08 (QNA) - Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah successfully navigated the pitfalls of stage 4 and strongly came back from a three-minute penalty to finish in second place, just 2min 26sec behind stage winner Stphane Peterhansel at Wednesday's 672km charge from Neom to Al Ula of Dakar Rally. The defending champion is now within three minutes of the overall leader Carlos Sainz. "We did a great job, but it wasn't easy. We tried to attack near the end, but it was tricky. I'm happy because it looks like tomorrow there'll be dunes on the course. We were cautious," said three-time champion Al Attiyah. "I'm happy we didn't suffer any punctures. Mathieu did a great job, we tried to take care of our car because we've still got a long way ahead of us. It's a tough Dakar, I've changed my driving style to play it safe whenever necessary," he added. Meanwhile, Frenchman Peterhansel, otherwise known as Mr Dakar for his 13 victories in the marathon rally, overcame a wrong turn to clock his first stage win of the 2020 race. Peterhansel and his Portuguese navigator Paulo Fiuza threw their Mini across the rocks and sand that made up the greater part of the 453k special which also ran close to the historic Nabatean temples, to finish stage four in 4hr 14min 34sec. At one point they made a wrong turn which cut away some of their lead, but they still came home ahead of Al Attiyah in his Toyota. "It feels good after all that trouble in the first few days, even though we had a flat tyre and got lost once," said Peterhansel. "It wasn't a flawless special, but it feels great to take the win. "There were more stones than expected and the final 60 kilometres were really difficult." Overall leader Sainz, who pulled out a stunning drive to win on Tuesday, finished third more than seven minutes behind Peterhansel. "Leading the charge was hard and Carlos lost some time, but he did an amazing job because it didn't take him long to get back on track," said Peterhansel. Former Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso couldn't reproduce his great drive on stage three, finishing 26 minutes behind Peterhansel who gave a ringing endorsement of the new Saudi setting for the race. "This new Dakar is brilliant," said the Frenchman. "It has all the ingredients -- superb landscapes, tricky navigation and enough difficulties to select. "The organisers have been perfect so far." Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo won the bikes category and is third in the overall standings, 8:31 behind his American Honda teammate Ricky Brabec. (QNA)