Al-Attiyah closes on second Dakar win with fourth stage victory

Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar won his fourth stage in the Dakar Rally in Argentina on Wednesday, the ninth win in 10 days for Mini, as he closed in on a second title.
In the motorcycle division, Joan Barreda of Spain rode his Honda to a third stage win, with defending champion Marc Coma extending his overall lead to nearly eight minutes with three days to go.
After crossing the Andes from Calama to Chile, the mammoth 859km stage, 371km timed to Salta, saw Al-Attiyah extend his overall lead to more than 28 minutes on South African Giniel de Villiers, in a Toyota, the 2009 race winner.
Spaniard Nani Roma, the defending champion and winner of the ninth stage on Tuesday, was close to abandoning after seriously damaging his Mini at the 193km mark.
Barrada's chances of overall victory in the motorcycle race were shattered when he lost more than four hours with mechanical problems on the stage to Iquique, Chile, on Monday.
But he had better luck on the run to Salta and crossed the line more than 90sec ahead of KTM's Coma and nearly two minutes in front of Portugal's Ruben Faria.
Four-time champion Coma added nearly two minutes to his advantage over his closest rival in the overall standings, Honda rider Paulo Goncalves of Portugal, who only came home fifth on the stage.
Should Spain's Coma be crowned champion at the end of the race on Saturday in Buenos Aires, it will be the 14th straight triumph for Austrian constructor KTM.
Source: AFP