Giniel de Villiers clawed back three minutes down from leader Nasser Al Attiyah and increased the pressure on the Qatari while Orlando Terranova won stage seven of the Dakar Rally yesterday.
Terranova will long remember the fourth stage, when the Argentinean was knocked out of the fight for the general classification after showing he had the speed to challenge for victory in Buenos Aires on the first day.
His dominant win yesterday, the third one in seven stages, was just another flash of brilliance by the Mini driver, head and shoulders above the rest in Uyuni.
Runner-up Yazeed Al Rajhi was busy defending his third place in the general classification. The Saudi, who finished 2’20” behind the winner, can say “mission accomplished” after managing to take back time on the overall leader, just like Bernhard ten Brinke and Krzysztof Holowczyc, both engaged in a titanic battle for fourth place after posting a solid performance to finish less than three minutes behind the winner.
De Villiers, 6’50” back, also has reasons to be pretty happy about yesterday’s stage. The South African managed to erase the three-minute gap between him and Al Attiyah after starting behind the Qatari – a great move that will keep the pressure on the Mini driver, who admitted on the finish line that he had suffered from altitude sickness and had stopped several times during the special.
Al Attiyah said: “The stage wasn’t difficult, it was the altitude. I had to stop three times to vomit and I had a terrible headache every time we went over a bump. I’ve lost some time, but it’s no big deal. We don’t need to push our limits. The car is in good condition, so we’re only
going to change the tyres, check a few things and then go get a rest. First I’ll go see the medical service for a check-up.”
Stephane Peterhansel set a blistering pace at the start but faded to finish a disappointing eighth, 10 minutes behind the winner and five seconds ahead of Robby Gordon.
After today’s stage eight, the rally resumes on Tuesday following a rest day tomorrow.
