McRae lands debut Dakar victory

Colin McRae scored his first-ever stage victory on the Dakar Rally today to finally banish memories of his sand dune difficulties.

The Scot is out of contention for a top placing after twice being stranded in the African desert by transmission problems on his Nissan but he put that disappointment behind him today.

He was fastest on stage 13, ahead of Giniel de Villiers, with Ari Vatanen third.

Stephane Peterhansel leads overall, with Hiroshi Masuoka second and Jean Louis Schlesser third.

McRae is 20th but would rather concentrate on simply finishing the event.

He said: “It’s my first stage with a good clean run. We had some vibration problems so we had to make sure the car was okay.

“Tomorrow’s a marathon stage so we have to take good care of the car. There still is a hell of a long way to Dakar.

“I felt good overtaking everyone. You obviously know you’re doing well. It’s nice to be alongside Andrew Cowan (the last British driver to win a stage).

“I want to get to Dakar but we have to judge our own pace. The others will be calculating a lot so I think we can try to win another one.”

On two wheels, David Fretigne won his first African stage after two victories in Europe, pipping Richard Sainct to the top of the standings.

Joan Roma was third today but retains the lead, with Sainct second and Cyril Despres third.