Giniel de Villiers took his first stage win of this year's Dakar Rally after setting the quickest time on the 10th day of the event. Meanwhile, leader Nasser Al-Attiyah extended his lead at the front of the overall standings after Volkswagen teammate Carlos Sainz hit trouble.
De Villiers, the 2009 Dakar winner, caught Al-Attiyah unaware by selecting the cleverest route and ended the day in front, while the Qatari, who had been in front in the latter part of the stage, had to settle for fourth position. Despite that, Al-Attiyah ended the day with a stronger lead after Sainz lost over 18 minutes to de Villiers, who won the stage from Krzysztof Holowczyc and Stephane Peterhansel in the BMWs.
Al-Attiyah was happy with his day despite losing time while in front on a stage that took drivers to Chile back to Argentina.
"We got lost for around seven to eight minutes," he said. "After that we caught up with Stephane Peterhansel, and we tried to find the right way. Then suddenly I saw Giniel de Villiers's car and I tried to follow him. From then I said, 'We must stay calm, take it easy and try and find the way.'
"It's OK; we're here now and I'm quite happy. I think it's a big day for us. I don't know where Carlos finished, but we're quite happy."
Al-Attiyah still leads from Sainz in the standings, the Spaniard now over 12 minutes adrift, with de Villiers in third over 46 minutes behind.