McRae leads again in Dakar

Former world champion Colin McRae is the overall leader in the Dakar Rally, after winning his second special stage on day five between Agadir and Smara.

The Scot hit back after his Nissan suffered a puncture on Monday, which dropped him down to 10th overall.

But he bounced back in Granada two days ago, flying to stage-four success with a 6mins 15secs advantage over his team-mate Giniel De Villiers, with Jutta Kleinschmidt third, more than 1min behind.

McRae is therefore 5mins 28 secs ahead of de Villiers overall, with today’s fourth-placed driver Nasser Al Attiyah keeping hope alive for BMW. American Robby Gordon had been setting the pace before yesterday.

Title-holder Stephane Peterhansel was 24mins behind McRae after a series of punctures today.

In the motorcycle category, Australian Andy Caldecott won his first ever stage on the Dakar. But his KTM team-mate Marc Coma, second on the day, moved into the overall lead.

Spain’s KTM-Repsol rider Coma nonetheless retains a 42secs overall advantage.