McRae makes second mark on Dakar

COLIN McRAE followed up his first-ever stage win on the Dakar Rally by taking second place yesterday.

The Scotsman, who achieved the impressive feat of winning a stage on his Dakar debut on Wednesday, continued his good form since nearly retiring from the event with transmission problems on his Nissan.

He was twice stuck in sand dunes last week and just managed to stay with the event into its final week.

That effort has proved worthwhile, with McRae taking second yesterday, 14 minutes and 20 seconds behind stage winner and former downhill skier Luc Alphand.

Stephane Peterhansel's third place yesterday extends his overall lead over Hiroshi Masuoka to one hour 5 minutes 4 seconds. Jean Louis Schlesser, a former Formula One driver, is third.

Joan Roma's third place on stage 14 of the motorcycle event keeps him on top overall, less than 10 minutes clear of Richard Sainct. Cyril Despres won his third stage of the event and is now third overall.