Spain's defending Dakar motorcycling champion Marc Coma regained the overall lead in his thrilling duel with France's three-time winner Cyril Despres yesterday after winning the eighth stage in Chile.
Coma's compatriot Nani Roma completed a great day for Spain by winning his second stage of the race in the carsection in his Mini though French Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel retained the overall lead.
Coma had been more than seven minutes behind Despres going into the 477km stage from Copiapo but the Spaniard benefited when his fellow KTM rider got stuck in a boggy patch not highlighted in the racebook.
Despres eventually came in 17min 20sec in arrears of Coma but race stewards took into account his time spent in the bog and amended his time to 9min 14sec - he trails Coma by 1min 26sec in the overall standings.
Coma's fourth stage of the rally saw him finish in a time of 5hr 03min 52sec, seven minutes faster than his team-mate, Portuguese rider Ruben Faria. Yamaha rider Helder Rodrigues was 7min 10sec adrift in third.
Roma finished in a time of 4hr 25min 44sec, five seconds quicker than American Robby Gordon, driving a Hummer, while fellow Mini pilot Krzysztof Holowczyc was third 2min 04sec adrift.
