Krzysztof Holowczyc takes Dakar lead as Mini team-mate Nani Roma wins stage three

Polish driver Holowczyc started the day third, 2m33s off the lead, and had a steady run through the stage from San Rafael to San Juan in Argentina, winding up second fastest, 1m09s slower than Roma.

That was enough, however, to move him into the top spot, 54s clear of Robby Gordon, who was fifth quickest on Tuesday in the Hummer run by his own squad.

X-raid team leader Stephane Peterhansel, who held a 2m28s advantage at the head of the field after stage two, again began strongly and was fastest at the first two checkpoints of the 129-mile stage.

But the Frenchman hit trouble during the final 50 miles, sustaining two punctures and dropping over six minutes to Roma and five to Holowczyc. This caused the nine-time Dakar winner to drop to fifth overall, 2m41s off the lead.

Giniel de Villiers was fourth quickest in his Toyota and climbed a spot to third overall thanks to Peterhansel's misfortune. He is now only 10s ahead of Roma.

Last year's winner Nasser Al-Attiyah continued to gain ground. Although he did not move up from his overnight sixth place, the Qatari driver reduced his deficit to the leader by over two minutes and now lies 6m47s adrift.

Leading positions after stage three:

Pos  Driver                   Car         Time/Gap
 1.  Krzysztof Holowczyc      Mini         5h51m06s
 2.  Robby Gordon             Hummer       + 54s
 3.  Giniel de Villiers       Toyota       + 1m40s
 4.  Nani Roma                Mini         + 1m50s
 5.  Stephane Peterhansel     Mini         + 2m41s
 6.  Nasser Al-Attiyah        Hummer       + 6m34s
 7.  Leonid Novitskiy         Mini         + 14m53s
 8.  Lucio Alvarez            Toyota       + 20m39s
 9.  Carlos Sousa             Great Wall   + 21m46s
10.  Erik Wevers              Mitsubishi   + 26m06s