Defending champ takes seventh stage of Dakar rally

AP - Defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar won Saturday’s seventh stage of the Dakar Rally with Stephane Peterhansel of France finishing third and keeping the overall lead.

A day after a Dakar stage was cancelled because of a snowed-in Andes pass for the first time, competitors took to soft sand and dunes in a 419-kilometer loop course around the northern Chilean city of Copiapo in the Atacama region, one of the driest places on Earth.

Al-Attiyah, whose Hummer has been fast but plagued by bad luck, finally dominated to the end of a stage.

He beat second-placed American teammate Robby Gordon by 7 minutes, 30 seconds. Peterhansel was 7:53 behind in his Mini and happy to concede a 1-2 finish to the Hummers, who aren’t title contenders for now.

Peterhansel, a nine-time Dakar champion, was atop the overall - 11:22 ahead of Krzysztof Holowczyc of Poland and 13:09 in front of Gordon. Al-Attiyah was 43 minutes behind the leader.

“Our objective is to claw back seven or eight minutes every day,” Al-Attiyah said. “We have no choice if we still want to win the Dakar.”

In motorbikes, defending champ Marc Coma of Spain won the stage and Cyril Despres of France finished second and kept the overall lead.

Despres stayed on Coma’s tail to limit the latter’s win by 2:03. Paulo Goncalves was 2:49 behind on a Husqvarna.

“We are aware,” Coma said, “that I will gain two minutes one day, then Cyril will gain two minutes the next ... it is hard to change this when there is but one road. Everything is going smoothly, so it has been a good rally for us so far.”

Overall, Despres led Coma by 7:48 in a two-man contest. Helder Rodrigues of Portugal was 49:39 behind on a Yamaha.

Sunday is a rest day. The rally ends on Jan. 15 in Lima, Peru.