https://arab.news/2nbmh
- The 453km special ran close to the historic Nabatean temples in AlUla
- Overall leader Carlos Sainz finished third
ALULA, 抖阴短视频: Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, otherwise known as Mr.Dakar for his 13 victories in the marathon rally, clocked his first stage win of the 2020 race during Wednesday鈥檚 672 kilometer charge from Neom to Al Ula.
Peterhansel and his Portuguese navigator Paulo Fiuza threw their Mini across the rocks and sand that made up the greater part of the 453k special which also ran close to the historic Nabatean temples, to finish stage four in 4hr 14min 34sec.
At one point they made a wrong turn which cut away some of their lead but they still came home 2min 26sec ahead of defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah in his Toyota.
It was a defiant response from the Qatari who began the day with a three-minute penalty for not letting a rival through on stage three.
鈥淚t feels good after all that trouble in the first few days, even though we had a flat tire and got lost once,鈥� said Peterhansel.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a flawless special, but it feels great to take the win.
鈥淭here were more stones than expected and the final 60 kilometers were really difficult.鈥�
Overall leader Carlos Sainz, who pulled out a stunning drive to win on Tuesday, finished third more than seven minutes behind Peterhansel.
The Spaniard retains the overall lead and is 3:03 ahead of Al-Attiyah and 11:42 in front of Peterhansel.
鈥淟eading the charge was hard and Carlos lost some time, but he did an amazing job because it didn鈥檛 take him long to get back on track,鈥� said Peterhansel.
-------
READ MORE:
-------
Former Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso couldn鈥檛 reproduce his great drive on stage three, finishing 26 minutes behind Peterhansel who gave a ringing endorsement of the new Saudi setting for the race.
鈥淭his new Dakar is brilliant,鈥� said the Frenchman. 鈥淚t has all the ingredients 鈥� superb landscapes, tricky navigation and enough difficulties to make a selection.
鈥淭he organizers have been perfect so far.鈥�
Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo won the bikes category and is third in the overall standings, 8:31 behind his American Honda teammate Ricky Brabec.