Peterhansel takes over rally lead

STEPHANE PETERHANSEL snatched the lead of the Dakar Rally yesterday with the fastest time on stage two.

The Mitsubishi driver was 17 seconds faster than nearest challenger Giniel de Villiers on the 43-kilometre special stage from Narbonne to Castellon in setting a time of 38 minutes 48 seconds. Last year's winner Hiroshi Masuoka was third in a Mitsubishi. Former world rally champion Miki Biasion lies sixth, less than a minute down on Mitsubishi team-mate

Peterhansel.

Biasion said: "It was okay this morning. The track was quite tight and I was not in the mood to take risks."

Germany's Jutta Kleinschmitt endured a frustrating day in her Volkswagen and lost 10 minutes on her way to 64th position.

Cyril Despres could not maintain his first-day pace on the second stage and slipped to third as fellow KTM rider Richard Sainct took the lead and

established a 15-second cushion over second-placed Alfie Cox, also riding a KTM.

Defending champion Fabrizio Meoni recovered from a slow start yesterday to move into sixth position, although he is 1min 19secs down on Frenchman Sainct.

Two-time winner Sainct said: "I'm happy to win here. It's my third \

consecutive win in the area. It's really great to win in front of a French crowd and on this type of terrain. It's always a pleasure riding here.

"This year we didn't know the course and it was more technical than last year. We had some fog and a bit of rain which was tough for visibility. We knew the KTM team would be present here.

"But then again, the Dakar is not won here but it's a mental win on my competitors."

Britain's Patsy Quick is the leading woman on her Honda, over 12 minutes adrift in 110th place.

The de Rooys are dominating the truck category, with Belgian Johannes de Rooy who won the race in 1987 leading by 38 seconds from son

Gerardus. Klaus Bauerle lies third after yesterday's racing.