Dakar Rally news

Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart arrived in Dakar firmly in command of the 29th Dakar Rally. Today's stage offered many potential last minute pitfalls as it wound its way through populated areas and over tricky parallel tracks calling for accurate navigation.

"I feel really happy to reach Dakar, but I was very nervous this morning," admitted Peterhansel. "Last year the navigation was not easy and we lost 20 minutes. It was not easy to find a good speed this morning. The track was not clear. The speed restrictions helped us a lot. My eyes were always on the trip to check we were not going too fast."

"It's a little frustrating for me to be second into Dakar, but it has been like this for the last few days," said Alphand. "Nevertheless it has been a great all-round team performance. Tomorrow is the beach and, hopefully, we will have a party with our friends at the podium."

"We hit a low tree stump quite hard in a forest on my side of the car about 40km into the stage and it damaged the power steering," said Roma. "I also hurt my thumb in the steering wheel and it was very painful to finish the stage and drive the liaison."