2018 Dakar Rally: Stage 6 win for Sainz as the race entered Bolivia

Carlos Sainz (Team Peugeot Total) wins Stage 6 of 2018 Dakar Rally, becoming the fifth different stage winner in six days of the 40th edition of world’s toughest rally-raid race.

On the 760 kilometers long special stage between Arequipa and La Paz, with 313 kilometers of timed section, the Spanish veteran in the #303 Peugeot 3008 DKR was 4.06 minutes faster than his teammate Stephane Peterhansel, who stayed in the overall lead after six days.

Stage 6 winner Carlos Sainz

Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giniel de Villiers were the third-fastest and fourth-fastest on the stage which left Peru and moved a competition to Bolivia, replacing sand dunes with rocky mountains. Cyril Despres was the fifth-fastest today, beating Mini’s Mikko Hirvonen by seven seconds.

In the overall classification after six days, Peterhansel’s lead over Sainz has been slightly decreased to 27 minutes 10 seconds. Toyota’s Bernhard ten Brinke is third, one hour 20.41 minutes behind Peterhansel and less than four minutes ahead of Al-Attiyah. Giniel de Villiers is fifteen minutes behind Ten Brinke, rounding Toyota’s three-car chase behind two Peugeots.

Jakub Przygonski is the best X-Raid Mini driver in the sixth place, just 36 seconds ahead of Martin Prokop in his private Ford F150. Khalid Al-Qassimi dropped from sixth to 8th in the PH Sport’s Peugeot 3008 DKR. Eugenio Amos (2WD Buggy SMG) also lost two places today, dropping from seventh to ninth, ahead of Patrick Sireyjol (Buggy LCR30)