Peterhansel won yesterday's stage to extend advantage. Masuoka loses the lead due to transmission problems and is now third overall. German lady Mayer plays support role.
Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports (MMSP) team driver Stephane Peterhansel completed the 355 kms special stage of the 2004 Telefonica Dakar Rally between Atar and Tidjikja in Mauritania in first position today (Thursday).
While stage winner Peterhansel extended his overall advantage to 1h 04m 38s over Belgian Gregoire de Mevius, there was drama for Japanese overnight leader Hiroshi Masuoka. The defending champion lost over one and a half hour due to transmission trouble and is now third overall.
Stage winner Peterhansel is bidding to become only the second individual in the 26-year history of the Dakar Rally to win the event on both two and four wheels - he holds the record of six motorcycle wins, but only Frenchman Hubert Auriol has ever won in both disciplines.
"I am really happy to reach the bivouac with the fastest time today," said Peterhansel. "It was a difficult day and a very tough stage. After 39 kms we lost the correct track a couple of times. The road book was not very clear and we needed to use the GPS. I had one flat tyre, but I am pleased because I am now in a good position."
Teams tackled yesterday's arduous special in sandstorm-like conditions and reduced visibility. Masuoka, with 23 Dakar stage wins to his name, began the section with an overall lead of 11m 42s over his French team mate and was running at the head of the field until he hit trouble at at the 230 kms point.
German lady driver Andrea Mayer was delighted with her performance into Atar, on the stage where she suffered a back injury as a motorcyclist on the 1999 Dakar Rally. Over today's tricky special, into the remote, windswept sandstrip at Tidjikja, she lay 18th overall through the first passage control and then stopped to assist Masuoka.
While Mitsubishi Motors Team drivers spent the night in Tidjikja, team engineers and mechanics set out on the punishing drive from Atar to Nema. No service was permitted in Tidjikja, as mechanics caught up on much-needed rest in Atar this morning before the marathon 1550 kms road liaison to Nema.
Today offers the longest special stage on the entire event, the special starting a mere three kilometers from the Tidjikja rest halt. The 736 kms stage into Nema sets out across fast and twisty sand tracks, as far as the remote Tichit oasis - a bivouac on both the 2001 and 2002 Dakar rallies.
The terrain becomes more inhospitable, as teams pass the Elephant Rocks and the infamous Enji pass, where many competitors were badly delayed in a violent sand storm in 1985. Friday night will be the first permitted service point since Atar.
