Carlos Sainz sinks in Dakar

When something can go wrong, will go wrong. So says the famous "Murphy's Law" which became a reality in the person of Carlos Sainz in the Dakar Rally. Were first electrical problems yesterday, after the revocation of the cancellation of lost time in the day on Sunday problems with the GPS, and now a fault in the first place and then tear gas tank, who will wasted 2 hours, 36 minutes and 44 seconds, and with them almost every chance of winning the Dakar.

A shame, because among its quality as a pilot and good performance are breast Buggy, at least his teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah, the Dakar might be a good opportunity to fatten his resume. Except catastrophe of the other participants this year will be.

As we say that we are rolling right things is his teammate, the Qatari Al-Attiyah. He has repeated victory in today's stage and he has cut 1 minute and 17 seconds to the leader of the tests, the French Stephane Peterhansel, who still commanding the standings with five minutes and 16 seconds on the Qatari, and has now finished third position, making a smooth step in which he did not want to risk over-hunting of the first two.

The second in today's stage was for the French Guerlain Chicherit with Buggy which came 36 seconds Al-Attiyah. The French dominated most of the stage, but in the final stretch could not resist the pull of Al-Attiyah, who ended up imposing. The fourth place went to the South African Giniel de Villiers and his Toyota, than in the general ranks third more than half an hour from Peterhansel, namely 33 minutes and 22 seconds.

The Spanish Nani Roma finished fifth in the stage, 7 minutes and 27 seconds of Al-Attiyah, but outperformed the Russian Novistkiy over six minutes, which earned him to clip away in general. Now the Mini Novistkiy exceeds 5 minutes and 18 seconds Mini Spanish.

As for the favorite has not left only malparado Carlos Sainz. American Robby Gordon, who is giving more than speak for his bluster and driving errors than their good performances, has turned his Hummer at kilometer 29 of the special attacking a dune at excessive speed. At the time of writing had not yet crossed the finish line.

Nor has had a good day the Argentinean Lucio Alvarez, until now ranked third overall in his Toyota Hilux. Mechanical problems have forced him to stop, losing 3 hours 32 minutes and 12 seconds.

Tomorrow's fifth stage between Arica and Arequipa is disputed. The rally comes in Chile on a stage with a distance of 509 kilometers, of which 172 are timed.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE FOURTH STAGE:

1 Al-Attiyah (QAT), CRUZ (ESP) - BUGGY 3:28:46
2nd Chicherit (FRA) GARCIN (FRA) - SMG 3:29:22 +0: 36
3rd PETERHANSEL (CHE) Cottret (FRA) - MINI 3:30:03 +1: 17
4th DE VILLIERS (ZAF), von Zitzewitz (DEU) - TOYOTA 3:33:03 +4: 17
5th ROME (ESP), Perin (FRA) - MINI 3:36:13 +7: 27
6th Novitskiy (RUS) Zhiltsov (RUS) - MINI 3:42:41 +13: 55
7th Coffaro (VEN), MENESES (VEN) - TOYOTA 3:49:31 +20: 45
8 CHABOT (FRA), PILLOT (FRA) - SMG 3:49:53 +21: 07
9th THOMASSE (FRA), LARROQUE (FRA) - BUGGY MD RALLYE 3:53:23 +24: 37
10th SOUSA (PRT), RAMALHO (PRT) - GREAT WALL 3:54:55 +26: 09

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE:

1 PETERHANSEL (CHE) Cottret (FRA) - MINI 9:04:29
2 Al-Attiyah (QAT), CRUZ (ESP) - BUGGY 9:09:45 +5: 16
3rd DE VILLIERS (ZAF), von Zitzewitz (DEU) - TOYOTA 9:37:51 +33: 22
4th Novitskiy (RUS) Zhiltsov (RUS) - MINI 9:38:17 +33: 48
5th ROME (ESP), Perin (FRA) - MINI 9:43:35 +39: 06