BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Vatanen seals stage victory

Dakar Rally (stage 13)

Finland's Ari Vatanen steered his Nissan to victory in the 13th stage of the Dakar Rally on Wednesday.

Vatanen finished one minute and 18 seconds ahead of Frenchman Luc Alphand's BMW, with South Africa's Ginie de Villiers third.

Leader Stephane Peterhansel was 16 minutes and 11 seconds off the pace in fifth place over the 569 kilometres from Siwa and Dakhla.

Photos from stages 12 and 13

But the Frenchman extended his overall advantage of 25:50 over Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka.

In the motorcycle section, KTM rider Fabrizio Meoni held off overall leader Richard Sainct of France to win the stage.

Sainct finished 13:16 behind Meoni and compatriot Cyril Despres was third a few seconds further back.

Sainct leads with an 11:02 advantage over Despres, with Meoni third overall at 16:44.

Stage 13 results:

Cars:
1 Ari Vatanen (Finland) Nissan, four hours 42 minutes 29 seconds
2 Luc Alphand (France) BMW at one minute 18 seconds
3 Ginie De Villiers (South Africa) Nissan 8:22
4 Carlos Sousa (Portugal) Mitsubishi 15.07
5 Stephane Peterhansel (France) Mitsubishi 16.11
6 Hiroshi Masuoka (Japan) Mitsubishi 17.43
7 Miki Biasion (Italy) Mitsubishi 18.19
8 Jean-Pierre Fontenay (France) Mitsubishi 19.59
9 Stephane Henrard (Belgium) Volkswagen 20.31
10 Jutta Kleinschmidt (Germany) Volkswagen 27.23

Leading overall standings:
1 Peterhansel 35 hours 57 minutes 10 seconds
2 Masuoka at 25 minutes 50 seconds
3 Fontenay 2:29.33
4 Biasion 2:40.11
5 Sousa 2:50.41

Motorbikes:
1 Fabrizio Meoni (Ita) KTM, four hours 57 minutes 18 seconds
2 Richard Sainct (Fra) KTM at 13 minutes 16 seconds
3 Cyril Despres (Fra) KTM 13:30
4 Jean Brucy (Fra) KTM 15:59
5 Fran�ois Flick (Fra) KTM 16:59
6 Jean de Azevedo (Bra) KTM 22:14
7 PG Lundmark (Swe) KTM 25:00
8 Giovanni Sala (Ita) KTM 28:50
9 Jose Manuel Pellicer (Spa) KTM 35:40
10 Carlo De Gavardo (Chi) KTM 37:00

Leading overall standings:
1 Sainct 40 hours 20 minutes 21 seconds
2 Despres at 11 minutes two seconds
3 Meoni 16:44
4 Brucy 59:57
5 De Azevedo 1:13.14


	Links to more Motorsport stories