Sainz, Coma in control after stage four wins
- Source: Global Times
- [08:51 January 07 2011]
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Carlos Sainz steers past injured Brit biker Jennifer Morgan. Photo: AFP
Defending champion Carlos Sainz of Spain extended his lead at the top of the standings Thursday by winning the fourth stage as the gruelling event crossed the border from Argentina into Chile.
The Volkswagen driver covered the 207km special on the 761km run from Jujuy in the north of Argentina to the Chilean town of Calama in 1 hour 57 minutes 09 seconds to finish 50 seconds ahead of last year's runner-up and teammate Nasser Al- Attiyah of Qatar.
France's Stephane Peterhansel was third at 1 minute 22 seconds in his BMW.
It was the third stage win for double rally world champion Sainz in this year's race.
"There was some navigation work, a bit of off-track driving, but I think that it will be tomorrow when things will get serious," said Sainz, who had led third-stage winner Al-Attiyah by 3 minutes 34 seconds in the overall standings overnight.
"I drove very fast today. I hope that someone was quicker than me, so that I don't have to open the way. Peterhansel, Al-Attiyah and even Giniel De Viliers (another Volkswagen driver) are dangerous rivals. We're very close to each other in the standings," said Sainze.
China's Zhou Yuande crossed the line on 34th in 2 hours 45 minutes 31 seconds followed by Jiang Yaohuan of Rely on 36th and Zhou Yong of Great Wall on 39th.
Zhou Yuande's consistent run of form earned him No. 38 overall while Jiang was handed a two-hour penalty and slumped to No. 97 overall.
Spaniard Marc Coma, riding a KTM, earlier grabbed the overall motorcycles lead by finishing in 2 hours 4 minutes, a 16-second lead over defending champion, and overnight leader, Cyril Despres of France.
"It was a very important day for me, even if it was only a 207km stage. It was difficult to open the way. I'm happy and I felt great," said Coma.
Despres was not concerned by losing his overall advantage to Coma, standing at just 0.02 seconds behind overall.
"For this type of terrain you need to change the way your brain's wired. There's no more hard ground, just desert, off-track riding and surfaces which break up," he said.
Agencies - Global Times
