Dakar - 2013, [Day 4] Stage 4 - Report

Day 4, Nazca to Arequipa:

A long gruelling stage awaits the competitors today as Stage 04, which requires 3 refuelling stations over the longer 720km (288km special stage + 429km transport).

We can say, this is the first of beginning of the longer stages.

Stage 4

The need for experience & skill goes into today stage, as the stage demands more today. In the first 1/3rd section is a 2km slide downhill special stage and also a refueling point just around. The stage has two different tracks/passage, slightly apart from each other, one for the bikes/quads and another for the cars/trucks.

Joan Barreda Bort took stage [another] win stage today, while Olivier Pain is the new leader of the bikes category. Says he was lucky to watch from the top of the dune, while others [who were lost] were struggling to navigate, he took the advantage and made it quickest. Quips, "I don't want to get overexcited about my place in the overall". He sits at a slender margin of over 2m24s to David Casteu & 3m9s to Cyril Despres in bikes overall.

Marcos Patronelli has a sail-breeze finish and going strong over 9m48s over the nearest Sebastien Husseini in Quads category. Rafal Sonic from Poland is at distant 1h0m16s.

For Cars & Buggies, it was a mix of emotions & problems. Trouble hits Carlos Sainz After yesterday's electronic problems, Sainz's car seems to be giving him a hard time again. The Spaniard stopped near 147km mark, while his team-mate & team-boss Nasser Al-attiyah finishes ahead of others claiming another stage win. Peterhansel still leads the overall rally by 5m16s atop of Nasser.

Kamaz driver Ayrat Mardeev takes stage win, over an advantage of the problems those in front of him were experiencing, especially Miki Biansion, Gérard De Rooy and Eduard Nikolaev. Gerard De Rooy dropped to second place in overall by a thin 56s to new rally leader Ales Loprais.