Audi strike again in Dakar Rally second stage, De Mevius loses lead

The second stage of the Dakar consisted of 463 fast kilometres toAl Duwadimi. Guillaume De Mevius surprisingly won the first stagebut he would soon have to concede some time. The Belgian languishedaround eighth place all day and lost his leading position in theoverall classification to Carlos Sainz Sr, who finished eighth.During the treacherous first stage on Saturday, a lot of topdrivers lost time. One of them was Stephane Peterhansel, who had toconcede more than half an hour to De Mevius. The French Audi driverwas on a mission, as he consistently posted the fastest times inthe opening stage. The difference with Sebastien Loeb (ProdriveHunter), also a driver with feelings of revenge, was incrediblysmall. After 342 kilometres, the difference between them was a merefive seconds. Peterhansel would let his experience speak for itself- 'Mister Dakar' narrowly extended his lead and took the stagevictory with a 29-second lead over Loeb. The impressive SethQuintero finished third in his Toyota, ahead of defending championNasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive Hunter) and teammate Yazeed Al-Rajhi.For Peterhansel, it was already his 84th stage victory of hiscareer. He sits ninth overall. Classification after the secondstage (Cars)