France's Stephane Peterhansel claimed victory on the
sixth stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday but the race was marred by the deaths
of a motorcyclist and two journalists.
Peterhansel, 48, who has won the motorcycle section of
the race six times and the car section five times, was racking up a
record-equalling 63rd stage win on the Dakar.
He finished two minutes 43 seconds ahead of Qatar's 2011
champion Nasser Al-Attiyah with Argentina's Orlando Terranova third on the
400km timed run from Tucuman to Salta.
Spain's Nani Roma was sixth on the day and retained the
overall lead.
French rider Alain Duclos, on a Sherco, beat overall
motorcycling leader Marc Coma by 75 seconds, but celebrations were muted after
it was revealed that the 9,374km race, which crosses Argentina, Chile and
Bolivia, had claimed three more lives.
Belgian motorcyclist Eric Palante, 50, riding for the
Honda team, died on Thursday's fifth stage between Chilecito and Tucuman.
Two members of an Argentinian news team - journalism
student Agustin Mina, 20, and Daniel Ambrosio, 51 - also died on Thursday when
the car they were driving in fell into a ravine.
Culled from Skysports
