Colin McRae retained his top-three position in the Dakar Rally today after surviving a scare on the 700-kilometre trek to Mauritania in western Africa.

TWO-TIME defending champion Hiroshi Masuoka of Japan surged into the lead in the Dakar Rally after winning the sixth stage, a 351km special from Ouarzazate to Tan-Tan in Morocco.

Russian satellites have discovered a river flowing 700 feet under the Sahara.