Sainz takes second straight win

The former world rally champion, over seven hours off the top of the overall standings, also gave Volkswagen their eighth victory of the this year's edition.

The 260-km special was the first on Senegali soil, as the rally enters its final part.

Sainz's winning time was two hours and 30 minutes, and he was followed by overall leader Stefan Peterhansel, who is nearing his ninth Dakar victory after managing to extend his lead.

The French Mitsubishi driver, whose team have not won any stages so far this year, finished 26 second behind Sainz and nearly five minutes ahead of teammate and reigning champion Luc Alphand, sixth today.

With two timed stages remaining, Peterhansel leads Alphand by 11 minutes.

Peterhansel said yesterday that they had not received any orders from the team, but he was expecting both him and Alphand to driver sensibly in the remaining part of the rally.

"For now we must think about keeping both Mitsubishis in front of the blue (Schlesser) buggy," he said. "So far there have been no race strategy orders but we have responsibilities and we are big boys.

"We can't go for it as if we had nothing to lose. It would not be nice if we were to crash the cars at this stage of the race."

Third-placed Jean-Louise Schlesser, over 1.5 hours behind Peterhansel, was fifth today, behind the Volkswagens of American Mark Miller and Portuguese Carlos Sousa.

The day went without any major dramas for the top drivers, who will face the event's penultimate stage tomorrow. Competitors will travel from Tambacounda to Dakar, covering 576 kms, 225 of those timed.

Sunday's final stage is just a 16-km special that will take drivers to the famous Rose Lake.

Stage 13 classification:

Pos Driver         Make           Time
 1.  Sainz         Volkswagen   2h30:22
 2.  Peterhansel   Mitsubishi   +  0:26
 3.  Miller        Volkswagen   +  2:18
 4.  Sousa         Volkswagen   +  5:03
 5.  Schlesser     Schlesser    +  5:11
 6.  Alphand       Mitsubishi   +  5:12
 7.  Shmakov       Buggy        +  5:41
 8.  Roma          Mitsubishi   +  6:06
 9.  Barbosa       Proto        +  9:10
10.  de Villiers   Volkswagen   + 10:37

Overall standings after stage 13:

Pos Driver       Make             Time
 1. Peterhansel  Mitsubishi       43h13:22
 2. Alphand      Mitsubishi      +   11:15
 3. Schlesser    Schlesser       + 1h38:47
 4. Al Attiyah   BMW             + 2h09:45
 5. Miller       Volkswagen      + 2h17:47
 6. Masuoka      Mitsubishi      + 2h42:29
 7. Sousa        Volkswagen      + 5h20:58
 8. Gordon       Hummer          + 7h13.18
 9. Sainz        Volkswagen      + 7h37:14
10. Henrard      Volkswagen      + 8h12:28