• Peterhansel remains overall leader
• Rest day scheduled for tomorrow

Having been plagued by misfortune for the last few days, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (both ESP) bounced back to claim the stage win in their MINI JCW Buggy. Their team-mates Stéphane Peterhansel and Edouard Boulanger (both FRA) finished fourth on the sixth leg, from Al Qaisumah to Hail. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) and Dmitry Tsyro (UKR) were ninth in their MINI JCW Rally. They are in seventh place in the overall standings.

For almost the entire stage, Peterhansel was faster than his closest rival for the overall victory, Nasser Al-Attiyah. However, he fell behind the Qatari on the final few kilometres. Despite this, Peterhansel only conceded 18 seconds to his rival and still leads by just short six minutes.

Due to technical problems Orlando Terranova stopped shortly after the start, aborted the sixth leg and took the service route to Hail. The regulations do not allow Terranova to re-join the rally on Sunday, bringing the Argentinean’s Dakar to a premature withdrawal.

Stéphane Peterhansel: “That was a very good week for us. We did not make many mistakes and the MINI has been super. After the Prologue, I was afraid that I may not be quick enough. What Edouard is doing at his first Dakar is really impressive.”

Carlos Sainz: “I am pleased with the stage win. We gave it all. Today’s leg was on sandy routes and navigation was not as difficult. Lukas and I could have done a better job in the first week. We must now take a good hard look at what happened. The Dakar seems to be following a different philosophy this year.”

A rest day is scheduled for the competitors tomorrow. The teams will use the day to prepare the cars for week two – particularly as the Dakar resumes on Sunday with the marathon leg, which requires the drivers to get by without their teams in the evening.

Result of SS6
1. C. Sainz /ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 38m 27s
2. Y. Al-Rajhi (KSA) / D. von Zitzewitz – Toyota – 3h 42m 30s
3. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) – Toyota – 3h 45m 43
4. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / E. Boulanger (FRA) – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 46m 01s
5. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) – Toyota – 3h 52m 48s
…
10. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) – MINI JCW Rally – 4h 04m 38s
…
14. D. Krotov (RUS) / O. Uperenko (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 4h 08m 42s
…
21. G. Spinelli (BRA) / Y. Haddad (BRA) – MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 18m 44s
…
37. V. Khoroshavtsev (RUS) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 5h 03m 58s

Overall standings after SS5
1. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / E. Boulanger (FRA) – MINI JCW Buggy – 22h 14m 03s
2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) – Toyota – 22h 19m 56s
3. C. Sainz /ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – MINI JCW Buggy – 22h 54m 42s
4. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Gottschalk (GER) – Toyota – 23h 25m 39s
5. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Winocq (FRA) – Prodrive – 23h 50m 58s
…
7. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / D. Tsyro (UKR) – MINI JCW Rally – 24h 19m 50s
…
14. G. Spinelli (BRA) / Y. Haddad (BRA) – MINI ALL4 Racing – 25h 19m 15s
…
27. V. Khoroshavtsev (RUS) / A. Nikolaev (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 27h 17m 18s
…
35. D. Krotov (RUS) / O. Uperenko (RUS) – MINI JCW Rally – 30h 23m 50s

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