Motorsport: De Villiers edges 12th Dakar stage

DAKAR - South African Giniel de Villiers won the 12th stage of the Dakar rally on Wednesday though overall leader Stephane Peterhansel finished second to maintain his challenge with four stages remaining.

De Villiers in a Nissan finished in Mali's capital Bamako three minutes and one second in front of Peterhansel after the 819km stage from Kiffa in Mauritania.

Fellow Frenchman and nearest overall rival Luc Alphand, also in a Mitsubishi, finished 6 minutes 27 seconds behind the winner in third.

The event has been marred by the deaths of two motorcyclists this week. Italian Fabrizio Meoni suffered a heart attack after a crash on Tuesday, a day after Spaniard Jose Manuel Perez died in hospital after falling during the race last week.

The motorcycle stage on Wednesday was cancelled as a mark of respect with the competitors flying straight to Bamako for the next stage to Kayes on Thursday.

Meoni's Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM said it was considering its future in the rally after his death and urged all its riders to withdraw. KTM is the dominant bike manufacturer in the race.

Peterhansel heads the overall standings by 23 minutes 16 seconds from Alphand in second while Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt, who had rear wheel problems on Wednesday, is third.

Josep Maria Servia had a lucky escape on Wednesday when he hit a tree but was unharmed.

- REUTERS