AREQUIPA, Peru — Stephane Peterhansel extended his overall lead of the Dakar Rally after winning the fifth stage on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time).
The Frenchman, a 13-time Dakar champion in all categories, won the 266-kilometer (165-mile) stage between San Juan de Marcona and Arequipa in Peru in 2 hours, 51 minutes, 19 seconds.
Peterhansel's Peugeot teammate, Sebastien Loeb, was forced to abandon the race after an injury to co-pilot Daniel Elena.
Dutch driver Bernhard ten Brinke of Toyota finished the stage 4:52 behind Peterhansel.
In the overall classification, Peterhansel leads Peugeot's Carlos Sainz, who ended fourth on Wednesday, by 31:16.
Ten Brinke is 1:15:16 behind Peterhansel.
Earlier Wednesday, soccer coach Andre Villas-Boas abandoned the race. The former Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham manager, who was making his debut in the rally, felt back pains after his car crashed against a sand dune in the fourth stage.
In the motorbike race, Spain's Joan Barreda Bort of Honda clocked 3:19:42 to win the stage, but Frenchman Adrien van Beveren of Yahama still leads the overall classification despite a disappointing fifth place on Wednesday. Honda rider Kevin Benavides of Argentina is 1 minute behind Van Beveren after five stages.
In the truck race, defending champion Eduard Nikolaev won the stage in 3:37:12. The Kamaz driver leads the overall classification by 58:05 over Federico Villagra of De Rooy.
The rally leaves Peru and enters Bolivia on Thursday, bound to the country's capital La Paz.
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