 Peterhansel has stretched his overall lead to 23 minutes |
Stephane Peterhansel kept his overall lead in the Dakar Rally as Giniel de Villiers took victory on stage 12. De Villiers' Nissan was the first car past the finish line at Bamako in Mali, with Peterhansel's Mitsubishi just over three minutes behind in second.
Wednesday's motorcycle stage was cancelled as a mark of respect for two-time former winner Fabrizio Meoni.
Meoni was killed in an accident on Tuesday - the second rider to die in two days.
On Monday, Spain's Jose Manuel Perez died from injuries he suffered in an accident last week.
The two tragedies have prompted Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM to consider pulling out of rallying.
"I am personally of the opinion that all KTM riders should return home," said KTM sporting director Heinz Kinigadner.
"It's tragic and it hurts. Before Dakar, I asked Meoni whether he would like to manage the KTM teams in the future.
"Pulling out of the rally isn't just a question of sympathy, but also one of safety because no-one in the team can just ignore two such tragic accidents."
Stage 12 results - Cars
1. Giniel de Villiers (SA) Volkswagen 7 hours 20 minutes 58 seconds
2. Stephane Peterhansel (Fra) Mitsubishi, 3 minutes 1 second behind
3. Luc Alphand (Fra) Mitsubishi at 6:27
4. Bruno Saby (Fra) Volkswagen at 8:06
5. Carlos Sousa (Por) Nissan at 10:46
Overall standings
1. Stephane Peterhansel (Fra) Mitsubishi 41:05:13
2. Luc Alphand (Fra) Mitsubishi at 23:16
3. Jutta Kleinschmidt (Ger) Volkswagen at 1:18:47
4. Giniel de Villiers (SA) Volkswagen 4:07:33
5. Bruno Saby (Fra) Volkswagen at 8:43:27
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 