Spaniard Nani Roma moved into the Dakar Rally lead with victory in the third stage on Tuesday as favourite Stephane Peterhansel suffered a nightmare day.
Frenchman Peterhansel began the day in the overall lead following his victory in Monday’s second stage, but had six punctures as he came home in 28th place, more than 28 minutes down on Roma. In the overall standings, Roma leads a trio of Mini drivers with Argentine Orlando Terranova second and Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar third. Peterhansel is down in fifth place overall but is 24min 08sec behind Roma. And the 11-time former winner (six times in the moto section and five times in cars) admitted he had not enjoyed the 301km timed section from San Rafael to San Juan.