McRae’s Dakar dreams dashed by dodgy gearbox

COLIN MCRAE’S dreams of Dakar Rally glory were lying in tatters last night following a second consecutive mechanical failure.

The Scotsman lost almost three hours on Thursday when he lost his four-wheel-drive system and transmission gremlins struck again yesterday to leave him completely out of contention.

McRae, the 1995 World Rally champion, suffered a gearbox problem ion his Nissan during the 736-kilometre stage from Tidjikja to Nema in Mauritania which meant he had to creep towards the finish line.

Stephane Peterhansel held on to his overall lead of the event despite being pipped to the stage victory by fellow Mitsubishi driver Hiroshi Masuoka, who moved up to second place in the standings.

Gregoire de Mevius slipped to third overall today. That is the way the standings will stay until Monday after organisers decided to cancel stages 10 and 11 for security reasons.

No further details on the security risk were immediately available.

Patsy Quick’s hopes of becoming the first British woman to complete the motorcycle race were ended yesterday when she failed to take the start line.

Some brighter news for the British contingent came when Londoner Nick Plumb was retrieved by a rescue helicopter. The Team Dome BMW rider had been forced to sleep in the desert after becoming lost but was able to telephone for help.

Cyril Despres won yesterday’s stage from Alfie Cox but that was not enough to dislodge overall leader Joan Roma, whose fourth place yesterday kept him on top.