Peterhansel takes Dakar lead
Wednesday, Jan. 04, 2012
France's Stephane Peterhansel steers his Mini to win the Stage 4 of the 2012 Dakar Rally between San Juan, San Juan province and Chilecito, La Rioja province, Argentina, on January 4, 2012. AFP PHOTO/POOL/JACKY NAEGELEN (Photo credit should read JACKY NAEGELEN/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Spain's marc Coma rides his KTM to win the Stage 4 of the 2012 Dakar between San Juan, San Juan province and Chilecito, La Rioja province, Argentina, on January 4, 2012. AFP PHOTO/POOL/JACKY NAEGELEN (Photo credit should read JACKY NAEGELEN/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Spain's driver Nani Roma steers his mini during the Stage 4 of the 2012 Dakar Rally between San Juan, San Juan province and Chilecito, La Rioja province, Argentina, on January 4, 2012. France's Stephane Peterhansel won the stage. AFP PHOTO/POOL/JACKY NAEGELEN (Photo credit should read JACKY NAEGELEN/AFP/Getty Images)
AP
SMG's driver Ronan Chabot and co-driver Gilles Pillot both from France stand next their car after it they went off the road in the fourth stage of the 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru Dakar Rally between San Juan and Chilecito, Argentina, Wednesday Jan. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Getty Images
CHILECHITO, ARGENTINA - JANUARY 04: Cyril Despres of France and Team Red Bull KTM arrives at the bivouac after stage four of the 2012 Dakar Rally from San Juan to Chilecito on January 4, 2012 in Chilecito, Argentina. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
CHILECITO, Argentina – Nine-time champion Stephane Peterhansel moved into first place in the Dakar Rally with a victory Wednesday in the fourth stage.
The French driver, racing in a Mini, completed the 202-mile special stage in 3 hours, 49 minutes, 33 seconds. Peterhansel has won six times on motorbikes, and three in cars.
In bikes, defending champion Marc Coma of Spain won the special stage in northwestern Argentina, but the overall lead went to his KTM teammate Cyril Despres of France.
More racing news, blogs, photos and more at www.ThatsRacin.com.
The Charlotte Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since charlotteobserver.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Charlotte Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
