Dakar 2018, Stage 6: Sainz quickest ahead of rest day

Sainz beat teammate and rally leader Stephane Peterhansel by four minutes and six seconds to pick up his first stage win in this year's Dakar.

Taking place at altitude of around 4000 metres above sea level, the marathon's sixth stage marked the end of the opening leg in Peru, with competition moving on to the Bolivian Altiplano.

The timed part of the stage was 313km long and split into two sections, separated by a 238km neutralised zone.

Sainz arrived to the end of the first, 118km-long run with a two-minute lead, having topped the timing sheets at all three waypoints along the way.

He continued to set the pace after the road section, and more than doubled his lead by the time he arrived at the finish line.

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Settling for runner-up in the test, 13-time Dakar champion Peterhansel will head into the La Paz rest day with a 27-minute advantage over Sainz.

The rest of the chasing pack continues to be led by Toyota's Bernhard ten Brinke, despite the Dutchman losing time through the stage against his Dakar-winning squadmates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giniel de Villiers.

Ten Brinke's deficit to Peterhansel in the general classification has increased to 1h21m, with Al-Attiyah a further four minutes down and de Villiers slotting in fifth, 11 minutes behind the Qatari.

Villagra makes inroads

Iveco's Federico Villagra recorded his second stage win in the truck category, taking five minutes and a half out of Kamaz's overall leader Eduard Nikolaev.

Villagra trailed Martin Macik after the first segment of the stage, but picked up the pace to finish almost three minutes clear of his nearest rival, Martin Kolomy.

Reigning champion Nikolaev will thus take a 53-minute lead over Villagra into the rest day, while the Argentine himself is over an hour and a half ahead of third-placed Siarhei Viazovich.

Standings after Stage 6 (Car class, top 10):

Pos.	Driver / Co-driver	Car	Time/Gap
1	Stephane Peterhansel  Jean-Paul Cottret	Peugeot	16h25m2s
2	Carlos Sainz  Lucas Cruz	Peugeot	+27m10s
3	Bernhard ten Brinke  Michel Perin	Toyota	+1h20m41s
4	Nasser Al-Attiyah  Mathieu Baumel	Toyota	+1h24m20s
5	Giniel de Villiers  Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	+1h35m59s
6	Jakub Przygonski Tom Colsoul	Mini	+2h25m16s
7	Martin Prokop Jan Tomanek	Ford	+2h25m52s
8	Khalid Al Qassimi  Xavier Panseri	Peugeot	+2h29m6s
9	Eugenio Amos Sebastien Delaunay	2WD	+2h30m58s
10	Patrick Sireyjol  Francois-Xavier Beguin	Cummins	+3h25m35s