McRae maintains momentum

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.

The Scotsman was handed an unexpected boost late last night when his seven-and-a-half-minute speeding penalty was rescinded, lifting him into third position on his first-ever Dakar Rally.

McRae remains in third after registering the fifth fastest time today on stage seven from Tan-Tan in Morocco to Atar in Mauritania, although the 1995 World Rally champion was grateful to finish at all after being trapped in a sand dune at one point.

McRae, driving a Nissan, is 41 minutes 29 seconds adrift of overall leader Hiroshi Masuoka, the Mitsubishi driver whose second consecutive stage win kept him on top of the standings.

McRae’s fellow former World Rally champion Miki Biasion is out of contention after failing to take the start line this morning due to mechanical trouble.

Stephane Peterhansel, also a Mitsubishi driver, is second overall, less than 12 minutes adrift of Masuoka.

The standings in the motorcycle class were dramatically shuffled today when overnight leader Isidre Esteve Pujol slipped out of contention following first a heavy accident and then a mechanical problem.

That gifted the lead to Cyril Despres, whose third place on stage seven was enough to lift him to the top of the pile, with Joan Roma second overall.

Today’s winner Richard Sainct has moved into third place in the standings after pipping Jean Brucy to the stage victory.

Derbyshire’s Mike Extance is 54th on his Honda after finishing stage seventh in 39th place.