Peterhansel's hat-trick hopes hit

Stephane Peterhansel’s chances of a third successive victory in the Dakar Rally suffered a blow when problems to his rear left wheel lost him three hours on stage 12 winner Luc Alphand.

Peterhansel was the overall leader and appeared on course for another Dakar win despite taking a wrong turn on the previous stage, which cost him 15 minutes as his Mitsubishi team-mate Alphand challenged.

However, his chances of a hat-trick of titles appear slim after hitting a tree, just three days before the end of the rally. After unsuccessful repairs, Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret had to wait for help.

Alphand leads overall from Volkswagen’s Giniel de Villiers, with Nani Roma third in his Mitsubishi.

Peterhansel dropped to fourth overall after his disastrous run from Bamako in Mali to Labe in Guinea.

Frenchman Henri Pescarolo flipped three-times in an incident during the stage but rejoined the race after making repairs, despite suggestions he could retire from the event.

In the bike category, Frenchman Cyril Despres captured his fourth success on the rally to gain ground Marc Coma, although the Spaniard’s lead at the summit is still commanding.

Vladimir Chagin remained in charge of the truck division, despite the stage victory of Hans Stacey, the latter three hours behind in second place.