Al-Attiyah on top in eighth Dakar stage

Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken the eighth Dakar car stage, while France's Cyril Despres won in the motorbike section.

Nasser Al-Attiyah competes in the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has taken the honours in the Dakar Rally's eighth stage. (AAP)

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, in a Mini, has taken the honours in the Dakar Rally's eighth stage, which crossed through the Andes from Bolivia into Chile.

He finished ahead of 11-time winner Stephane Peterhansel, while Carlos Sainz, winner of stages four and seven, took third in the 302km timed run from the Bolivian town of Uyuni to Calama.

Spanish driver Nani Roma was sixth and he retains a 24 minute advantage over Peterhansel with South African Giniel De Villiers placed third.

Al-Attiyah, who won the race in 2011, is in fifth overall, 1hr 5min adrift.

In the motorbike section France's Cyril Despres, a five time winner of the toughest challenge in motorsport, emerged the winner as the 2014 edition paid its first visit to Chile after stages in Argentina and Bolivia.

Despite claiming this 499km stage the Yamaha rider is still way off the pace in the overall standings, almost two and a half hours behind Spain's Marc Coma.

Tuesday's ninth stage takes the 2014 Dakar caravanserai from Calama across 150km of Chile's Atacama desert with a finish in Iquique.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world