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Mini maintain championship defense

January 8, 2015

Nasser Al-Attiyah continues to hold a dominant lead out in front, despite finishing fourth in the fifth stage. The run through Chile's Atacama desert saw the competitors battle through the driest place on earth.

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Dakar Rally 08.01.2015
Image: Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Thanks to Russian driver Vladimir Vasilyev, defending champions Mini continued their domination of the 2015 Dakar Rally. After Thursday's stage win, Mini have now won all five stages on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Vasilyev clinched the 458km run from Chile's Atacama desert to the coastal stop of Antofagasta ahead of Toyota's Yazeed Alrajhi and Timo Gottschalk. The Saudi Arabian-German pair finished only 20 seconds behind Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhilzov, but remain third overall. Robbie Gordon's Hummer picked up bronze for the stage.

Mini's Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, the overall leader, was fourth ahead of 11-time champion Stephane Peterhansel in a Peugeot. For the first time in this year's race, South Africa's 2009 champion Giniel de Villiers failed to finish on the podium, but he and German partner Dirk von Zitzewitz stay in second overall.

Defending motorcyclist champion and four-time winner Marc Coma claimed his first stage victory of the year, finishing ahead of compatriot and overall leader Joan Barreda.

Early tests have also revealed that Polish motorbike rider Michal Hernik's death in Tuesday's stage of the Dakar Rally was due to hyperthermia and dehydration.

jh/jw (afp, dpa)