Fiambala, Argentina - Peugeot's Carlos Sainz has stretched his Dakar Rally lead to more than an hour after organisers rescinded a 10-minute penalty imposed earlier in the week for an incident with a quad.
The former double world rally champion, and father of the Formula One driver of the same name, finished third for Peugeot in the 281km 11th stage from Belen to the sands of Fiambala and Chilecito in Argentina, which was won by Toyota Gazoo Racing SA's Bernhard ten Brinke, with Cyril Depres in the ''water carrier' Peugeot second.
Depres is competely out of contention for the win, almost 45 hours behind the leaders, and is acting as back-up for Peugeot team-mates Sainz and 13 times champion Stephane Peterhansel.
Sainz had started the day 50 minutes clear but, despite the top four finishing within 15 seconds of each other, gained another 10 minutes thanks to the stewards.That left him an hour and 45 seconds clear of Peterhansel, with Toyota's former double Dakar winner Nasser al-Attiyah third overall, an hour and 24 minutes off the pace, with only three stages remaining.
'I didn't hit anybody!'
Peugeot Sport head Bruno Famin said: "Carlos now has a comfortable lead and Stephane is covering him in second place. But there’s still a long way to go to the finish and we have to get to Cordoba with no drama, which is never a given."
Dutch rider Kees Koolen had claimed on Monday that Sainz had hit his machine on a previous stage and failed to stop, with the stewards penalising the Spaniard. Sainz had angrily denied any contact was made and Peugeot had backed him up.
Famin said: "We appreciate the stewards looking into this again, and re-examining all the documents and other evidence at their disposal.
"We supplied them with a certain amount of data, relating to the speed and movement of the car. They were able to compare that to the tracking and ascertain that Carlos’s point of view was the correct one - of which we never had any doubt."
The three works Peugeots came in together, less than five minutes behind Ten Brinke, with Al-Attiyah a minute further adrift and South African Dakar star Giniel de Villiers sixth, 12 minutes behind Ten Brinke.
Motorcycles
Australian Toby Price, the 2016 champion, won the stage with Austrian Matthias Walkner on a KTM taking it carefully and staying 32 minutes clear of Argentina's Honda rider Kevin Benavides. Honda hero Joan Barreda Bort had to withdraw after requesting medical assistance near Fiambala.
Preview
Thursday's 12th stage is from Fiambala to San Juan with a 375km timed leg and 348km of liaison.
IOL Motoring and Reuters