Audi strike again in Dakar Rally second stage, De Mevius loses lead

The second stage of the Dakar consisted of 463 fast kilometres to Al Duwadimi. Guillaume De Mevius surprisingly won the first stage but he would soon have to concede some time.

The Belgian languished around eighth place all day and lost his leading position in the overall classification to Carlos Sainz Sr, who finished eighth.

During the treacherous first stage on Saturday, a lot of top drivers lost time. One of them was Stephane Peterhansel, who had to concede more than half an hour to De Mevius.

The French Audi driver was on a mission, as he consistently posted the fastest times in the opening stage. The difference with Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive Hunter), also a driver with feelings of revenge, was incredibly small. After 342 kilometres, the difference between them was a mere five seconds.

Peterhansel would let his experience speak for itself - 'Mister Dakar' narrowly extended his lead and took the stage victory with a 29-second lead over Loeb.

The impressive Seth Quintero finished third in his Toyota, ahead of defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive Hunter) and teammate Yazeed Al-Rajhi. For Peterhansel, it was already his 84th stage victory of his career. He sits ninth overall.