Motorsport: Peterhansel retains Dakar lead after second stage win

Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel claimed his second successive stage victory to open a comfortable lead in the 2005 Dakar Rally today.

Peterhansel, winner in 2004, negotiated the 669-km seventh stage from Zouerat to Tichit in eight hours, 21 minutes, 57 seconds, 25 seconds ahead of Nasser At Attiyah in his BMW.

Former World Cup skier Luc Alphand, Peterhansel's Mitsubishi teammate, remains second overall, 21 minutes 32 seconds adrift after finishing the longest special stage in fourth place.

Kenjiro Shinozuka, winner of the Dakar Rally in 1997, was the highest-profile casualty of the day after he suffered a heavy crash 120-km into the stage in Mauritania.

Shinozuka and his co-driver Pascal Maimon were both taken to Tichit by helicopter where Maimon was treated for back and neck injuries.

Poor visibility hampered the bikes race with Frenchman David Fretigne taking the stage victory on his Yamaha in nine hours 16.26 minutes, 3-1/2 minutes ahead of Marc Coma, who moved top of the overall standings by a narrow 16 seconds.

France's Cyril Despres, who began the stage as overall leader, slipped back to second after finishing the stage in third place, five minutes adrift of Fretigne.

- REUTERS