Peterhansel set for Dakar victory

Volkswagen driver Sainz, in only his second Dakar, scored his third consecutive stage victory and the ninth for the German squad, in an event where they have proved to be the quickest, but where their problems have proved very costly.

Sainz, in ninth in the overall standings more than seven hours behind Peterhansel, needed two hours and 21 minutes to cover the 225 kms from Tambacounda to Dakar, where the rally will finish tomorrow.

Unless something goes very wrong for Peterhansel on Sunday, the Frenchman will be crowned champion again.

The Mitsubishi driver now just needs to complete tomorrow's 16-km special along the beaches of Dakar and towards the famous Rose Lake, where the rally finishes every year, to clinch victory in the gruelling event.

It will be Peterhansel's third victory in the cars category, following the ones in 2004 and 2005, and the ninth in total after having won a record six times as a bike rider.

It will also be Mitsubishi's seventh consecutive victory, despite not having won a stage in this year's edition.

Peterhansel was only 11th in today's stage, over eight minutes behind Sainz. The Mitsubishi driver saw his lead in the standings reduced to seven minutes, after teammate Luc Alphand finished today's special in seventh position.

Alphand, the current champion, looks set to have to settle for second position, with tomorrow's stage hardly ever producing significant changes in the standings.

Volkswagen put on yet another strong performance in today's stage, with Portuguese Carlos Sousa and American Mark Miller finishing behind Sainz.

Stage 14 classification:

Pos  Driver        Make          Time
 1.  Sainz         Volkswagen    2:21.02
 2.  De Villiers   Volkswagen    +  0.07
 3.  Sousa         Volkswagen    +  0.45
 4.  Al Attiyah    Bmw           +  1.52
 5.  Gordon        Hummer        +  1.54
 6.  Miller        Volkswagen    +  2.02
 7.  Alphand       Mitsubishi    +  4.22
 8.  Kleinschmidt  Bmw           +  5.38
 9.  Schlesser     Schlesser     +  5.58
10.  Barbosa       Proto         +  8.00

Overall standings after stage 14:

Pos  Driver        Make          Time
 1.  Peterhansel   Mitsubishi   45:42:45
 2.  Alphand       Mitsubishi   +   7.16
 3.  Schlesser     Schlesser    +1:36.24
 4.  Al Attiyah    Bmw          +2:03.16  42s penalty
 5.  Miller        Volkswagen   +2:11.28
 6.  Masuoka       Mitsubishi   +2:45.31
 7.  Sousa         Volkswagen   +5:13.22
 8.  Gordon        Hummer       +7:06.51  13s penalty
 9.  Sainz         Volkswagen   +7:28.53  15s penalty
10.  Henrard       Volkswagen   +8:29.27