Dakar: Al-Attiyah quickest on stage 10 as Roma crashes
Nasser Al-Attiyah took a dominant victory on stage 10 of the 2015 Dakar Rally, as X-raid Mini team-mate Nani Roma crashed heavily
Al-Attiyah's fourth stage win of the event boosted his advantage to more than 28 minutes with main rival Giniel de Villiers dropping over four minutes with the fifth-fastest stage time.
But while the run from Calama to Salta put a further dent in Imperial Toyota de Villiers' victory bid, it was absolutely disastrous for 2014 Dakar winner Roma.
Roma's '15 event had already been ruined by an oil-pump problem on the first stage, but he had won his first stage of this year's edition on Tuesday before rolling several times 120 miles into the 534-mile run on the 10th day. He and his co-driver were reported unhurt.
Al-Attiyah's nearest opposition came from Orlando Terranova, whose overall rally bid was thwarted on day four, with the third X-raid driver coming through 1m28s slower than his team-mate.
Despite de Villiers' having a muted run to fifth the South African remains second overall, almost 15 minutes clear of fellow Toyota driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who was third-fastest on stage 10.
Peugeot's difficult Dakar improved slightly, with Stephane Peterhansel ninth quickest, but he remains 14th on the leaderboard.
LEADING STAGE TEN TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Qatar Rally Team | Mini/BMW | 3h49m59.s |
| 2 | Orlando Terranova | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 1m35.s |
| 3 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Yazeed Racing | Toyota | 3m39.s |
| 4 | Leeroy Poulter | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 4m06.s |
| 5 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 4m24.s |
| 6 | Bernhard Ten Brinke | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 5m21.s |
| 7 | Krzysztof Holowczyc | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 6m01.s |
| 8 | Emiliano Spataro | Renault | 7m19.s | |
| 9 | Stephane Peterhansel | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 7m23.s |
| 10 | Carlos Sousa | Mitsubishi Petrobras | Mitsubishi | 8m18.s |
LEADING OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER STAGE TEN:
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Dakar Rally: Nasser Al-Attiyah takes control, Nani Roma fastest
Dakar Rally: Al-Attiyah grabs stage win, Al-Rahji in trouble
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