Stage Six of the Dakar Rally

Before covering the events of stage six, we are sad to say that Belgian rider Eric Palante has died aged 51. Palante was competing in his eleventh Dakar Rally. Palante was eighty-eighth in the bike class at the end of stage four. He finished seventy-nineth in both the first and fourth stages.

There were a few time penalties assessed at the end of stage five.

Robby Gordon, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz were all hit with one hour penalties for missing a waypoint during stage five. This drops the three drivers to nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-sixth in the stage five results. Lucio Alvarez, Martin Kaczmarski, Federico Villagra, Emiliano Spataro and Erik Wevers were all given one hour penalties after stage five as well.

After those penalties has Nani Roma led Orlando Terranova, Stéphane Peterhansel and Giniel de Villiers in the overall standings entering stage six. Al-Attiyah dropped from second to fifth, one hour twenty-six minutes and twenty-eight second back and Carlos Sainz dropped from sixth to eight, one hour fifty-nine minutes and forty-three seconds back. Robby Gordon entered stage six five hours thirty-four minutes and twenty-nine seconds back in twenty-fourth position.

In the bike class, Cyril Despres was given a one hour penalty, dropping him to thirty-third in the stage five results and he dropped to twelfth in the overall standings, two hours twenty-three minutes and one second back entering the stage six.

The top two in the quad class, Sergio Lafuente and Ignacio Casale both received one hour penalties but maintain their positions in the stage five results. Rafeł Sonik dropped from third to sixth in the stage results after a one hour penalty. Lafuente led entering stage six by sixteen minutes and fifty-two seconds ahead of Casale, twenty-three minutes and twelve seconds ahead of Sonik and an hour forty-five minutes and forty-five seconds ahead of Sebastian Husseini.

Frenchman Alain Duclos defeated bike leader Marc Coma but a minute and fifteen seconds to take the stage six victory. Fellow Frenchman Michael Metge rounded out the podium a minute and forty-nine seconds back. Joan Barreda Bort finished two minutes and twenty-two seconds back in fourth with Cyril Despres rounding out the top five, two minutes and fifty-five seconds back of Duclos.

Coma remains the overall leader, forty-two minutes and seventeen seconds ahead of Barreda Bort. Duclos moves up to third from fifth and is a hour and fifty-eight seconds back of Coma. Jordi Viladoms remains fourth after stage six an hour eight minutes and nine seconds back.

Rafał Sonik won his second stage of the quad class this Dakar Rally, fifty-four seconds ahead of class leader Sergio Lafuente. Chileans Victor Manuel Gallegos Lozic and Ignacio Casale finish third and fourth respectively. Russian Sergey Karyakin finished fifth, his best career stage finish just ahead of Sebastian Husseini.

Lafuente's overall lead in the class is now twenty-two minutes and eighteen seconds ahead of Sonik with Casale twenty-four minutes and four seconds back in third. Husseini is fourth but a distant three hours three minutes and fifty-four seconds back.

Pieter Versluis won the truck class in stage six, a minute and eleven seconds ahead of Andrey Karginov with Marcel van Vilet another fifteen seconds back in third. Eduard Nikolaev finished fourth, two minutes and seven seconds back with Dutch driver Hans Stacey another forty seconds back. Anton Shibalov finished sixth, three minutes and nine seconds back, fifty-seven seconds ahead of Gérard de Rooy.

De Rooy maintains his lead in the class by twenty-nine minutes and five seconds over Karginov. Nikolaev is an hour seven minutes and forty-two seconds back in third. Hans Stacey moves up to fourth after his finish today, one hour nineteen minutes and forty-four seconds back.

Stéphane Peterhansel won his second stage of the 2014 Dakar Rally by two minutes and forty-three seconds over teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah and five minutes and twenty seconds over Orlando Terranova. Giniel de Villiers finished fourth, six minutes and six seconds back with Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma taking the next two positions. They finished five seconds apart with Sainz finishing six minutes and thirty-one seconds off Peterhansel.

Roma holds a thirty minute and thirty second lead over Terranova with Peterhansel third, thirty-three minutes and twenty-six seconds back. De Villiers is forty minutes and fifty-four seconds off Roma in fourth with Al-Attiyah and Sainz both over an hour back.

Robby Gordon finished twenty-first on the day, twenty-four minutes and twenty-six minutes back and is twenty-first overall, five hours fifty-two minutes and nineteen seconds back of Roma.

The 2014 Dakar Rally has reached it's rest day. The drivers, riders and crews get Saturday off before facing the final seven stages which will see the rally exit Argentina and the cars and truck enter Chile while the bikes and quad will take a detour to Bolivia before enter the Pacific-bordering nation as they all make their way down the coast to Valparaíso.