Paris-Dakar: Servia loses lead in the dunes
In a dramatic day before the rally takes a little time off, the lead of the Paris-Dakar changed once more as overnight leader Jose Maria Servia struggled in the sand dunes on the El Ghallaouiya to Atar stage
The Schlesser buggy driver lost over two hours on the 440km section and Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka has taken the overall lead of the rally.
In another development, Jean-Louis Schlesser is crawling back up the standings after grabbing second today. After he was given a one-hour penalty on Sunday, the Frenchman is now third overall - although still 55 minutes down from Masuoka. But as Servia has found out to his cost today, anything can happen on the Paris-Dakar and Schlesser is certainly not out of contention.
The rally has a rest day tomorrow before heading out on the 508km Atar to Nouakchott stage as the rally nears its midway point.
1 H Masuoka, Mitsubishi,
2 JL Schlesser, Schlesser
3 J Kleinschmidt, Mitsubishi
4 C Sousa, Mitsubishi
5 S Henard, Volkswagen
1 H Masuoka, Mitsubishi, 28h 56m 16s
2 J Kleinschmidt, Mitsubishi 29h 41m 38s
3 JL Schlesser, Schlesser 29h 51m 16s
4 C Sousa, Mitsubishi, 29h 54m 45s
5 JM Servia, Schlesser, 30h 59m 41s
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