Spaniard Nani Roma had taken Stage 5 in a 01:23 minute victory over soon to be Champion Stéphane Peterhansel and was 05:59 minutes off Nasser Al-Attiyah’s (QAT) first place overall standing. Much like this year, American Robby Gordon bounced back for a third place finish on Stage 5 in 2013 after a catastrophic beginning to the Dakar. Roma was on an early path for his first Dakar win in the car category but we all know Peterhansel went on to win in convincing fashion. After falling behind to Carlos Sainz (ESP) in Stage 4, Nani Roma laid down a crazy fast time today and has taken back his first place standing overall, with a 00:26:28 lead on Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Racers will have a well deserved rest day giving all teams a chance to catch up on much needed rest and work on vehicle problems after tomorrow’s stage.
| Stage 5 Car Ranking | ||
| Position | Stage Time | Split |
| 1. ROMA (ESP) | 004:27:01 | |
| 2. DE VILLIERS (ZAF) | 004:31:21 | +00:04:20 |
| 3. GORDON (USA) | 004:47:13 | +00:20:12 |
| 4. TERRANOVA (ARG) | 004:47:45 | +00:20:44 |
| 5. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) | 004:48:39 | +00:21:38 |
| 42. BALDWIN (USA) | 007:31:17 | +03:04:16 |
| OVERALL Car Ranking after Stage 5 | ||
| Position | Total Time | Split |
| 1. ROMA (ESP) | 019:21:54 | |
| 2. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) | 019:48:22 | +00:26:28 |
| 3. TERRANOVA (ARG) | 019:53:40 | +00:31:46 |
| 4. PETERHANSEL (FRA) | 020:01:53 | +00:39:59 |
| 5. DE VILLIERS (ZAF) | 020:03:18 | +00:41:24 |
| 19. GORDON (USA) | 023:56:23 | +04:34:29 |
| 43. BALDWIN (USA) | 029:26:03 | +10:04:09 |
