Chilecito, Argentina — Argentine Orlando Terranova claimed his second stage win of the Dakar Rally Tuesday, to move third overall in the standings led by Mini teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah. Qatari Al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion, finished fifth in the day's 542km third stage, which included 284km of specials. South Africa's Giniel de Villiers, picked up his third podium finish in three days, ahead of another Toyota driven by Saudi Arabia's Alrahji Zayed, to stay second overall. Spaniard Carlos Sainz, winner in 2010, finished fourth at 4min 6sec to move up to fourth in the overall standings, while fellow Peugeot veteran Stephane Peterhansel, finished seventh, nine minutes off the pace, to sit 16th overall at 1hr 12 min. Al-Attiyah had bounced back from being stripped of victory on Sunday's opening stage by taking the overall lead after winning Monday's second stage. Driving a Mini, Al-Attiyah had claimed victory Sunday only to be stripped of his success for speeding — clocking 68km/h in a section limited to 50km/h — and earning a two-minute penalty that saw him relegated to seventh place. But the Qatari, the 2011 champion, put on a masterful display Monday to finish eight-and-a-half minutes clear of South Africa's Giniel de Villiers to take the overall lead following the 518km stage from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan. “We won the stage. This was a big thing. This is the key of this Dakar. Now we can go calmly until the rest day,” he said Monday. “For the marathon day we can go really easily, but we will try every day to be like this. It was a plan today because we studied the stage very well.” Veteran Peugeot drivers Carlos Sainz and Staphane Peterhansel, both former winners, had struggled for the second day in a row, the first losing more than 26 minutes and the second much further behind. In the motorbike section, Austria's Matthias Walkner, was a surprise winner of his first Dakar stage, ahead of KTM teammate and reigning champion Marc Coma and overall race leader Joan Barreda Bort of Spain. “I made some little mistakes because it was a little bit dangerous today with many stones and it forced you over the limit, but overall it was quite good,” said Walkner. “It's my first rally and I hope I can enjoy it.” Overall Honda's Barreda Bort leads ahead of Portuguese teammate Paulo Goncalves and Walkner. Coma sits fourth at 10min 50sec. “It was really dangerous because we were on river beds with a lot of stones and broken up tracks all day,” said Barreda Bort. “Now we go to Chile and there will be different stages and a different feeling so we will see there.” Wednesday's stage runs between Chilecito in Argentina to Copiapo in Chile. This year's rally features a grueling 9,000km trek through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia before arriving back in Buenos Aires for a Jan. 17 finish. The event, the seventh in South America since its enforced transfer for security reasons from Africa, is the 37th of all time. — Agencies
